The DHL Western Province Under-19 team will travel away next weekend in the semifinals of the 2015 Absa Provincial Under-19 competition, after doing down by 6-23 to the top of the log EP Kings U19s at DHL Newlands on Friday.
A victory today would have seen the 2014 champions finish at least second on the log and thereby host a semifinal (a bonus point win would have secured first place), but they were unable to fight back from a slow first half, which saw them trail by the full-time score of 6-23 at half-time.
Two tries inside the opening 25 minutes, by No.8 Junior Pokomela and fellow loose forward SF Nieuwoudt, saw the visitors lead by 20-3, before both sides exchanged penalties ahead of the break to make it 23-6.
Both teams had their chances in the second half, despite there being no change on the scoreboard, but the DHL WP U19s certainly showed a lot of courage in the second forty minutes.
Luck and finishing, however, were not on their side as they found themselves being turned over on the Kings goalline on at least two occasions.
It was just the third defeat for the DHL WP U19s in 2015, but they will now travel to Pretoria for an away semifinal meeting with the Blue Bulls’ U19s in a repeat of last year’s final at DHL Newlands.
The other semifinal will see the table-topping EP Kings host the Free State Under-19s in Port Elizabeth.
The scorers:
For DHL Western Province Under-19:
Pens: Swanepoel 2
For Eastern Province Kings Under-19:
Tries: Pokomela, Nieuwoudt
Cons: Brink 2
Pens: Brink 3
The teams:
DHL Western Province Under-19: 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Eduan Keyter, 12 Edrich Venter (vice-captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Aidynn Cupido, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Charl-Francois du Toit, 7 Saud Abrahams, 6 Mitchell Carstens, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Jaco Willemse, 3 Michael Kumbirai, 2 Jacques van Zyl, 1 Ruben Terblanche (captain).
Replacements: 16 Percy Mngadi, 17 Derrick Marais, 18 Nathan Meilhon, 19 Human Bodenstein, 20 Mervano da Silva, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Justin Heunis, 23 Gerard Pieterse.
Eastern Province Kings Under-19: 15 Keanu Vers, 14 Mabhutana Peter, 13 Yamkela Nyalambisa, 12 Jeremy Ward (captain), 11 Athi Mayinje, 10 Michael Brink, 9 James Hall, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Hayden Tharratt, 6 SF Nieuwoudt, 5 Lusanda Badiyana (vice-captain), 4 Wihan Coetzer, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Thango Balekile, 1 Greg Jackson.
Replacements: 16 Masikane Mazwi, 17 Xandre Vos, 18 Matthew Howes, 19 Michael de Marco, 20 Wihan Coetzer, 21 Sibusiso Ngcokovane, 22 Garrick Mattheus, 23 Michael Botha.
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe