Blue Bulls, Golden Lions keep on winning in the Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship

Aug 5 • General News • 2749 Views • Comments Off on Blue Bulls, Golden Lions keep on winning in the Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship

The Vodacom Blue Bulls and MTN Golden Lions scored a third win in as many matches in the Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship and now top the log following good wins on the weekend, while KZN scored a convincing win in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The MTN Golden Lions secured their third consecutive win in a good 34-27 victory over the Leopards in Potchefstroom. The home side will not be too despondent as they scored four tries and got a bonus point for losing with less than seven points.

The visitors took an early lead with a penalty, but Leopards fullback Johan Breiers ran strongly to open the try-scoring stakes and put his side in the lead. He got injured shortly afterwards though and was replaced by Lloyd Greeff, who also scored after 20 minutes.

In between the two Leopards tries though, the Golden Lions scored twice too and at the break, things were really tight, with the visitors enjoying a 24-17 lead.

The second half was not as productive though. Gys van Wyk scored a converted try to put the Leopards ahead with 10 minutes to play but Chad McKay scored at the death to give the Golden Lions their win.

Scorers:

Leopards 27 (17). Tries: Dean Stokes, Gys van Wyk, Johan Beiers, Lloyd Greeff. Conversions: Cornè Swart (2). Penalty. Swart.

MTN Golden Lions 34 (24). Tries: Carlisle Nel, Chad McKay, Koch Marx, Victor Sekekete. Conversions: Brandan Hewit (3), Gabriel du Toit. Penalty: Hewit.

In East London, the Vodacom Blue Bulls proved far too slick for the Border Bulldogs team, with the visitors running in eight tries at the BCM Stadium.

Things were pretty one-sided from the start and the Blue Bulls secured their fourth-try bonus point after 20 minutes. HW Viljoen, Arno van Wyk and Kobus Marais all scored in the opening 11 minutes and when Michael Haley was yellow carded, the Bulldogs were in deep trouble.

The second half saw much of the same. Jessie Kriel, who played at outside centre in this match, scored his fifth try off the season early in the second half and this was followed by three more five pointers from the visitors. The home side scored a try after an hour’s play, but there was always only one winner.

Scorers:

Border Bulldogs 7 (0). Try: Luzuko Mafi. Conversion: Michael Haley.

Vodacom Blue Bulls 56 (28). Tries: Arno van Wyk, HW Viljoen, Jesse Kriel, Keagon Gordon, Kobus Marais, Leighton van Wyk, Nqoba Mxoli, Caswell Khoza. Conversions: Marais (7), Joshua Stander.

There were 12 tries scored in Bloemfontein, but unfortunately for the Toyota Free State, only four were scored by themselves. The KZN team hit them hard and early and were leading 26-10 at the break, accelerating away to a 55-31 win.

Jean-Luc du Plessis proved to be a handful as the KZN pivot scored a brace and kicked a penalty in an impressive overall display. Tries by Barend Potgieter in the 4^th minute, Sandile Kubeka in the 13^th minute, Neil Maritz in the 24^th minute and Du Plessis in the 33^rd minute confirmed the bonus point and a winning lead in the match.

Scorers:

Toyota Free State 31 (10). Tries: Brandon Krause, Jan Venter, Naldo Meyer, Nico Lee. Conversions: Warren Potgieter (4). Penalty. Potgieter.

KZN 55 (26). Tries: Alrin Eksteen, Barend Potgieter, Chris de Beer, Jean-Luc du Plessis (2), Joseph Jones, Neil Maritz, Sandile Kubeka. Conversions: Colin Willemse (6). Penalty: Du Plessis.