DHL Western Province U21 went down 35-33 in their opening match against Vodacom Blue Bulls U21 at City Park on Saturday.
In what was a hard-fought affair throughout, the hosts looked to have sealed a comeback win, but a late try from Vodacom Blue Bulls was enough to snatch the victory.
There were tries from scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, No.8 Juarno Augustus and fullback Tristan Leyds, but it was not enough as the Vodacom Blue Bulls U21 scored four tries of their own to win.
The visitors opened the scoring with a try from inside centre Franco Naude, but it was not long before DHL Western Province U21 were on the board with a penalty from flyhalf Joshua Vermeulen to make it 7-3.
The hosts hit the lead soon afterwards as scrumhalf Jantjies scrambled through a gap to score and put them 10-7 up.
The two flyhalves exchanged penalties, with neither pivot missing a kick at goal in the windy conditions, but it was the visitors who would score the next try as captain Denzil Hill went over to put them 23-13 ahead at half-time.
DHL Western Province opened the scoring in the second half with a Vermeulen penalty, but the Pretoria side hit back with a try from wing Andell Loubser which put them firmly in control.
Despite that setback, DHL Western Province U21 put their heads down and came up with two converted tries to take the lead for the first time in the match.
First it was big Augustus over the whitewash before fullback Leyds pounced on a loose ball and rounded his man to score the second.
However, the Vodacom Blue Bulls hit back with a converted try of their own five minutes from the end to claim a slender victory.
The scorers:
For DHL WP U21:
Tries: Jantjies, Augustus, Leyds
Cons: Vermeulen 3
Pens: Vermeulen 3
For Blue Bulls U21:
Tries: Naude, Hill, Loubser
Cons: De Beer 2
Pens: De Beer 3
DHL Western Province U21: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Michaine Fick, 12 David Brits, 11 Edwill van Der Merwe, 10 Joshua Vermeulen, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Nyasha Tarusenga, 6 Zain Davids, 5 Ruben de Villiers, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Percy Mngadi, 1 Ruben Terblanche.
Replacements: 16 Matt Wiseman, 17 Wikus Groenewald, 18 David Meihuizen, 19 Thomas Meyer, 20 Paul de Wet, 21 Andre Manuel, 22 Tiaan Swanepoel.
