The DHL Western Province Under-21s scored a crushing 50-31 win over the Golden Lions Under-21s at DHL Newlands on Saturday en route to securing first place on the Absa Provincial Under-21 log at the halfway mark of the season.
The DHL WP Under-21s scored a staggering seven tries this top-of-the-log battle between two unbeaten sides, racking up the four-try bonus point at the stroke of half-time before adding three more tries in the second half.
Captain Eital Bredenkamp weighed in with two more tries to take his tally after just six games to an impressive 11, whilst left-wing JP Lewis (pictured, above) also collected two tries for his efforts.
Flyhalf Robert du Preez, meanwhile, kept up his points-scoring blitz this year with a try and six conversions and one penalty for a match-haul of 20, with centres Kyle Lombard and Johnny Kotze also crossing for tries.
Coach John Dobson spoke of his desire for his team to be sharp from kick-off and they were, as Bredenkamp and Lewis scored their first tries within the opening ten minutes.
They did concede five tries, which would have disappointed Dobson somewhat but the result was never in doubt as Province bossed the forward exchanges and took the ball wide at will.
A pleased Dobson told www.wprugby.com: “The guys were up for this game and hungry for the win. Conceding five tries was, however, very disappointing and we will address that this week.
“It’s pleasing to be on the top of the log at the halfway mark of the season, but we know that we can still keep improving.”
The scorers:
For DHL Western Province Under-21:
Tries: Bredenkamp 2, Lewis 2, Lombard, Du Preez, Kotze
Cons: Du Preez 6
Pen: Du Preez
For Golden Lions Under-21:
Tries: Marx, De Wee, Marx, Brink, Samuels
Cons: Van Rensburg 3
The teams:
DHL Western Province Under-21: 15 Justin Geduld, 14 JP Lewis, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Kyle Lombard, 11 Lihleli Xoli, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jean Nel, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Eital Bredenkamp (captain), 5 Jan Uys, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 John Meyer, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Michael Kennedy, 17 Deacon Chowles, 18 Niel Oelofse, 19 Carel du Preez, 20 Tapiwa Tsomondo, 21 SP Ferreira, 22 Janco Gunter.
Golden Lions Under-21: 15 Damian Engeldoe, 14 Caswell Khoza, 13 JJ Nel, 12 Koch Marx, 11 Selom Gavor, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Ruan van Rensburg (captain), 8 Cyle Brink, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Christopher Newman, 5 Jannie Stander, 4 Bobby de Wee, 3 Nico du Plessis, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Rynard Snyman, 17 Pieter Scholtz, 18 Jean-Pierre de Preez, 19 Ramone Samuels, 20 Jan Meyer, 21 Brandan Hewitt, 22 Matthew Phillips.
Referee: Christie du Preez
