EP Kings still rule in Absa u19 competition

Sep 6 • General News • 2069 Views • Comments Off on EP Kings still rule in Absa u19 competition

Photo by Anton Geyser

CurrieThe EP Kings is still firmly in charge of the Absa Under-19 A-Division Provincial Championship as the Port Elizabeth team scored their eight consecutive win of the competition on Saturday. The Kings, who beat all in the first round of the competition, again had too much firepower for the Xerox Golden Lions, beating them 34-22 at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday.

DHL Western Province stayed in the top three with a close win over the Leopards in Cape Town on Saturday. The home side scored five tries in the opening 20 minutes, but had to hang on in the end as the Leopards came storming back.

In the earlier match on Friday, the Vodacom Blue Bulls scored nine tries in a convincing 57-21 win over the Toyota Free State. A strong start resulted in a 33-3 lead at the break and laid the foundation to a good win, which moved the home side into second place on the log.

In the B-Division, the Steval Pumas remain the only unbeaten side in the competition, registering their fourth win in a row (48-5 over Border) in Witbank. ORC Griquas is gaining momentum as well and had the better of Limpopo Blue Bulls (50-12) in Jacobsdal to move to second on the log. The Down Touch Griffons travelled to Wellington to register a third win (29-17 over Boland), whilst on Friday, Hino Valke’s 26-23 win over the SWD Eagles in George kept the home side winless after four matches.

A-Division

Vodacom Blue Bulls 57 (33), Toyota Free State 21 (3).

The Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-19 team scored a convincing 57-21 win over Toyota Free State in Pretoria on Friday to move into second position on the log. They had a 33-7 lead in this high-scoring affair which resulted in 12 tries, with nine of those coming from the home side and all by different players. Five first half tries opened up a massive gap for the Blue Bulls and resulted in the Free State always playing catch-up rugby.

Scorers:

Vodacom Blue Bulls 57 (33). Tries: Alandre van Rooyen, Denzel Hill, Divan Rossouw, Franco Naude, Hendre Stassen, JT Jackson, Justin Meintjies, Ruan de Beer, Stephan Enslin. Conversions: Brendan Owen (6).

Free State 21 (3). Tries: Charl Pretorius, Henry Slabbert, Rohan Roelofse. Conversions: Ruan Wasserman (3).

Xerox Golden Lions 22 (3), Eastern Province 34 (24)

Three tries in the first half hour laid the foundation for the charging EP Kings. The secured their bonus point in the 46th minute as they dominated play. A rash of substitutes did halt their progress though and the Golden Lions, who lost their fourth match of the campaign, came storming back with a brace of tries. The result was determined a long way back though.

Scorers:

Xerox Golden Lions 22 (3). Tries: Curtis Jonas, Jaydrin Kotze, Jo-Hanco de Villiers. Conversions: Hendrik Mulder (2). Penalty: Hendrik Mulder.

Eastern Province 34 (24). Tries: Athi Mayinje, Jeremy Ward, Keanu Vers, Stephanus Nieuwoudt. Conversions: Michael Brink (4). Penalties: Michael Brink (2).

DHL Western Province 36 (33), Leopards 34 (15).

The home side raced to a 33-5 lead after 20 minutes as they completely outplayed their Potchefstroom visitors. The five tries in that blitzkrieg were all they would show in the end though, as the Leopards found their feet and patterns and proved to be the stronger side in the second half and in the end came just a whisker short of drawing the match as their last try went unconverted.

Scorers:

DHL Western Province 36 (33). Tries: Albertus de Wet, Edwill van der Merwe, Jaco Willemse, Jaco Coetzee, Justin Heunis. Conversions: Tiaan Swanepoel (4). Penalty: Tiaan Swanepoel.

Leopards 34 (15). Tries: Barend Janse van Rensburg, Dieter Leicher (2), Gavin Foster, Wilbri Gunter, Zweli Silaule. Conversions: Siyabonga Masuku (2).

B-Division:

Boland 17 (12), Down Touch Griffons 29 (12)

Scorers:

Boland 17 (12). Tries: Colin April, Enzo Foutie, Steven Stallenberg. Conversion: Austin Hendricks

Down Touch Griffons 29 (12). Tries: Benji Muller (2), Domenic Smit, Ezrick Alexander, Melton Wentzel. Conversions: Jason Olivier, Luan James

SWD 23 (8), Hino Valke 26 (12)

Scorers:

SWD 23 (8). Tries: Clayton Kiewitz, Justin Witbooi (2), Luvuyo Ndevu. Penalty: Nathan Kemp.

Hino Valke 26 (12). Tries: Bercho Botha (2), Kobus Kleyn, Shane Erasmus. Conversions: Conrad Engelbrecht (3).

Griquas 50 (31), Limpopo Blue Bulls 12 (12)

Scorers:

Griquas 50 (31). Tries: Brandon de Melim, Cleo Adams, Damian van den Bergh (2), Gerhard Holtzhausen, Ignatius Bothma, Zayne Farmer. Conversions: JP Abrahams (6). Penalty: JP Abrahams.

Limpopo Blue Bulls 12 (12). Tries: Emile le Roux, Simon Bezuidenhout. Conversion: Simon Bezuidenhout

Steval Pumas 48 (29), Border 5 (5).

Scorers:

Steval Pumas 48 (29). Tries: Christo Swart, Cornelius van Rooyen, Ian Truter (2), Jean-Pierre Snyman, Johannes Harmzen, JP Mans, Ruben Opperman. Conversions: Esje Esterhuyse (4).

Border 5 (5): Try: Siphelele Zono.