DHL Western Province U20 scored four tries and fought hard until the final whistle, but went down 36-35 in a hard-fought final against Lions U20 in Johannesburg on Saturday.

It was the only defeat of the season for DHL Western Province U20, who outscored the home side by four tries to three, but went down by just one point in the end.

The teams traded early penalties as they felt each other out and the home side managed to build up a 9-3 advantage.

DHL Western Province U20 started to find some gaps out wide and reduced the deficit to just three points at 12-9 heading into the final stages of the first half.

A try after the hooter saw Lions U20 take a 19-9 advantage into the break, leaving DHL WP U20 just outside striking distance.

That lead was cut to just three points early in the second half as DHL Western Province U20 came up with a try of their own from flank Romauld Ntumba to make it 19-16 heading into the final half-hour.

They backed that up with a second try soon afterwards as hooker Keagan Blanckenberg scored from a maul to give them a 21-19 lead.

Blanckenburg had his second thanks to some incredible hands from halfbacks Bobby Alexander and Sacha Mngomezulu, which unlocked the Lions U20 defence, taking the lead out to 28-19.

The home side brought themselves back within range with a penalty and they followed that up with a double-strike as flank Ruan Venter and wing Boldwin Hansen both scored to put them 36-28 up.

To their credit, DHL Western Province U20 kept on fighting and came up with a final try from replacement hooker Lukhanyo Vokozela, but it was not enough to avoid defeat.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Ntumba, Blanckenberg 2, Vokozela
Cons: Mngomezulu 3
Pens: Mngomezulu 3

For Lions U20:
Tries: Cairns, Venter, Hansen
Cons: Claasen 3
Pens: Claasens 5

DHL WP U20: 15 Jacques Rossouw, 14 Ebenezer Tshimanga, 13 Ethan James, 12 Ruben Labuschagne, 11 Rethabile Louw, 10 Sacha Mngomezulu, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Jarrod Taylor, 7 Simon Miller, 6 Romauld Ntumba, 5 Dylan De Leeuw (captain), 4 Connor Evans, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 Keagan Blanckenberg, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger.
Replacements (from): 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Vernon Matongo, 19 Marco van Rhyn, 20 Armand Maritz, 21 Conwill Conradie, 22 Meyr Retief, 23 Duran Koevort, 24 Liam Kloosman, 25 Cade Croy, 26 Christian Lamprecht.