KwaZulu-Natal edge ahead in U21 Championship

Aug 12 • General News • 2500 Views • Comments Off on KwaZulu-Natal edge ahead in U21 Championship

The KwaZulu-Natal Under-21 side’s impressive try-scoring abilities edged ahead of rivals DHL Western Province, the Vodacom Blue Bulls, Toyota Free State and MTN Golden Lions in a tightly contested Absa Under-21 Provincial Championship, but there is still a lot to play for in the coming weeks.

The East Coast side have so far scored 23 tries in their four matches, including nine in Potchefstroom last Friday as they brushed the Leopards aside in a very impressive 62-18 win, helping them to pick up valuable bonus points along the way.

After notching up four wins the KZN Sharks side have 16 log points, with WP (15), the Blue Bulls and Free State (both 14) and Golden Lions (10) all within a win from the top spot.

With KZN taking on WP this weekend and the Blue Bulls hosting Free State, there will again be log movement in a week’s time.

The nine try romp in Potchefstroom started in the fourth minute already for the visitors as fullback Sean Robinson raced through to set the tone. Strong running centre Andrè Esterhuizen, who incidentally hails from nearby Klerksdorp, scored three times for the visitors as the Natal backline had way too much pace and power for the home side.

Scorers:

Leopards 18 Under-21 (6). Tries: Armandt Stoman, Rowayne Beukman. Conversion: JJ du Plessis. Penalty. Warren Gilbert (2).

KZN Under-21 62 (34). Tries: Andrè Esterhuizen (3), Guy Alexander, Hanco Venter, Johan Meyer, Robert du Preez, Sean Robinson, Tyler Fisher. Conversions: Du Preez (4), Brendan Cope (3). Penalty: Du Preez.

In Pretoria, the Vodacom Blue Bulls had to come from behind to beat a determined Golden Lions side 26-20. Flyhalf Kobus Marais, who was drafted from the Under-19 side following Tony Jantjies’ elevation to the Absa Currie Cup side, had a fantastic debut, contributing 21 points in the match where both sides scored two tries, but the four penalties Marais kicked proved decisive.

The first 20 minutes was a straight shoot-out between Marais and MTN Golden Lions sharp shooter, Marais Schmidt. Marais opened the scoring with a penalty and when Schmidt replied, Marais scored a converted try.

Tries by Golden Lions flanker Kwagga Smith and winger Peter-John Walters edged the visitors into a 17-13 score at the break.

The second half was all Blue Bulls. Hencus van Wyk scored after 50 minutes and after some re-enforcements in their pack, the home side applied all the pressure. Marais kicked two more penalties, but Schmidt could kick a late penalty to give his side a well-earned bonus point.

Scorers:

Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-21 26 (13). Tries: Kobus Marais, Hencus van Wyk. Conversions: Marais (2). Penalties: Marais (4).

MTN Golden Lion Under-21 s 20 (17). Tries: Kwagga Smith, JP Walters. Conversions: Marais Schmidt (2). Penalties: Schmidt (2).

The DHL Western Province team played in spurts, but in the end had a convincing 38-20 win over the visiting Border Bulldogs at DHL Newlands on Saturday. The home side scored six tries, with no 8 Carel du Preez getting a brace. Credit to Border who came back strongly after being outplayed in the early stages of the match, with fiery loose forward Stephan Deyzel the stand-out.

Three tries in the first half hour laid the foundation for the win. Kobus van Wyk scored in the opening five minutes, JP Lewis added another after 15 minutes and hard-working halfback Godlen Masimla scored ten minutes later to give the home side an easy 24-3 lead.

Border did score twice just after the restart, but Du Preez’s second secured the bonus point for WP after 55 minutes. A penalty try late in the match aided the Bulldogs efforts.

Scorers:

DHL Western Province Under-21 38 (24). Tries: Carel du Preez (2), Jean Nel, JP Lewis, Godlen Masimla, Kobus van Wyk. Conversions: Tim Swiel (4).

Border Bulldogs Under-21 20 (3). Tries: Etienne Taljaard, Stephan Deyzel, Penalty Try. Conversion: Janco Lehmann. Penalty: Lehmann.

Absa Under-21 Provincial Championship Log

TEAM	PLAYED	WON	LOST	DREW	POINTS FOR	POINTS AGAINST	POINTS DIFFERENCE	TRIES FOR	TRIES AGAINST	LOSS BONUS	TRIES BONUS	POINTS
Group A
KZN Sharks	4	3	1	0	168	98	70	23	14	1	3	16
DHL Western Province	4	3	1	0	123	54	69	16	6	1	2	15
Vodacom Blue Bulls	4	3	1	0	157	65	92	19	7	0	2	14
Toyota Free State	4	3	1	0	100	90	10	13	11	0	2	14
MTN Golden Lions U21	4	2	2	0	91	91	0	10	8	2	0	10
Leopards	5	1	4	0	94	217	-123	11	29	1	1	6
Border	5	0	5	0	97	215	-118	15	32	0	1	1

Top Point Scorers as on 12 August 2013

PLAYER	TEAM	T	C	P	D	PTS
Tim Swiel	DHL Western Province	1	11	6	1	48
Tony Jantjies	Vodacom Blue Bulls	1	11	6	0	45
Robert du Preez	KZN Sharks U21	2	12	2	0	40
Marais Schmidt	MTN Golden Lions U21	0	6	9	0	39
Marco Mason	Toyota Free State	2	3	7	0	37
Andrè Esterhuizen	KZN Sharks U21	6	0	0	0	30
Brendan Cope	KZN Sharks U21	2	7	2	0	30
Kobus Marais	Vodacom Blue Bulls	1	2	4	0	21
Angus Cleophas	Border	3	2	0	0	19
Warren Gilbert	Leopards	0	2	5	0	19
Dillyn Leyds	DHL Western Province	3	0	0	0	15
Godlen Masimla	DHL Western Province	3	0	0	0	15
Juan Bester	Border	3	0	0	0	15
Tienie Burger	Toyota Free State	3	0	0	0	15