Blue Bulls topple Kings, Pumas stay undefeated in Absa u19 competitions

Oct 4 • General News • 1502 Views • Comments Off on Blue Bulls topple Kings, Pumas stay undefeated in Absa u19 competitions

The Vodacom Blue Bulls managed to dent the EP Kings status as the only unbeaten team in the Absa Under-19 A-Division Provincial Championship, while the Steval Pumas maintained that status in the B-Division and will host the final at home next week.

The Blue Bulls were all over the Kings, with their backline very prominent in the 49-16 win. The win could still deliver a home semifinal for the second placed Blue Bulls, but DHL Western Province can still have the final say next weekend. They face the Kings in Cape Town and a win for the home side could still see them move past the Kings in first place, a result that could see the Blue Bulls, who finished their league play, drop to third.

WP outplayed the Xerox Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Friday, beating the home side 40-20, while in Potchefstroom, the Cell C Sharks posted their first win of the season, beating the Leopards 23-14.

In the B-Division semifinals, results went as expected. The Steval Pumas and Down Touch Griffons were the leading teams this season and both won at home. The Pumas beat Hino Valke 39-12 and Griffons beat ORC Griquas 44-14 in Welkom.

The Pumas host the Griffons in the final next week.

The logs of both A and B Divisions are available here.

Run of play summary of each match is available by clicking on the match results.

A-Division

Xerox Golden Lions 20 (10), DHL Western Province 40 (20).

The DHL Western Province continue their rich vein of form in the Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship, this time beating the Xerox Golden Lions 40-20 at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. Two tries in each half and the punishing boot of fullback Tiaan Swanepoel had the Lions under pressure from the word go. The WP could still potentially move into top spot on the log next weekend when they host log leaders EP Kings.

Scorers:

Xerox Golden Lions 20 (10). Tries: Curtis Jonas (2), James Venter. Conversion: Hendrik Mulder. Penalty: Hendrik Mulder

DHL Western Province 40 (20). Tries: Albertus De Wet, Mitchell Carstens, Ruben Terblanche, Saud Abrahams. Conversions: Tiaan Swanepoel (4). Penalties: Tiaan Swanepoel.

Vodacom Blue Bulls 49 (21), Eastern Province 26 (17).

A hat-trick by centre Franco Naude in the opening 20 minutes of their match against the high-flying EP Kings secured a very convincing 49-26 win for the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Friday. With their backline operating at full throttle, the home side opened up the visitors’ defence at will and scored some great tries.

This was the home side’s last league fixture and depending on next weekend’s clash between WP and EP, could finish either second or third on the final log.

Scorers:

Vodacom Blue Bulls 49 (21). Tries: Divan Rossouw, Franco Naude (3), Kurt Webster, Ruan de Beer. Conversions: JT Jackson (5). Penalties: JT Jackson (3).

Eastern Province 26 (17). Tries: Stephanus Nieuwoudt (2). Conversions: James Hall (2). Penalties: James Hall (4).

Leopards 14 (14), Cell C Sharks 23 (14)

Three second half penalties by Tristan Tedder helped the Cell C Sharks to their first win in this year’s competition. It was a hard-fought affair against a plucky Leopards side, but their discipline in the second half cost them the win. With both teams scoring twice in the opening half, scorers were tied at the break, but Tedder’s accurate boot brought long awaited joy to the Durban side in Potchefstroom.

Scorers:

Leopards 14 (14). Tries: Dieter Leicher, Edward Haas. Conversions: Barend Janse van Rensburg (2).

Cell C Sharks 23 (14). Tries: Alwayno Visagie, Ulric Sellar. Conversions: Alwayno Visagie, Tristan Tedder. Penalties: Tristan Tedder (3).

B-Division:

Down Touch Griffons 44 (20), ORC Griquas 14 (0).

Scorers:

Down Touch Griffons 44 (20). Tries: Domenic Smit (2), Gift Dlamini, Luan James, Ronaldo Fortuin (2). Conversions: Luan James (4). Penalties: Luan James (2).

ORC Griquas 14 (0). Tries: JP Steyn (2). Conversions: JP Abrahams (2).

Steval Pumas 39 (17), Valke 12 (0).

Scorers:

Steval Pumas 39 (17). Tries: Ettiene Matthys (2), JP Mans, Ruben Opperman, Ruben Roodt, Theunis Sauer. Conversions: Jean Els, Theunis Sauer (2). Penalty: Theunis Sauer.

Valke 12 (0). Tries: Henning Buitendag (2). Conversion: Conrad Engelbrecht