DHL Western Province U20 claimed a hard-fought 17-11 victory against Vodacom Bulls U20 in their North-South clash at Newlands on Friday.
A try in each half and some impressive commitment on defence was enough for DHL Western Province U20 to get the result against the table-topping Pretoria side.
The home side dominated both territory and possession in the early stages, but could not find a way through in a scoreless opening half-hour.
The pressure eventually told as tighthead prop Corne Weilbach scored from a maul to put them 7-0 up five minutes before half-time.
The visitors responded with a penalty, but DHL Western Province U20 would have the final say in the first half as flyhalf Sacha Mngomezulu kicked a penalty to give them a 10-3 advantage at the break.
Vodacom Bulls U20 started the second half with their second penalty and DHL Western Province found themselves under more pressure when flank Romuald Ntumba was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements with 30 minutes left to play.
The visitors scored their first try with 15 minutes to play, with wing Tharquin Manuel taking a cross-kick to score in the corner and give them a slender 11-10 lead.
However, they were not in front for long as DHL Western Province U20 took the lead back with a try from centre Ruben Labuschagne to make it 17-11 heading into the last 10 minutes.
Despite being under pressure at the end, DHL Western Province U20 held on to claim the win, which saw them move to second on the standings.
Scorers:
DHL Western Province: Tries: Corne Weilbach, Ruben Labuschagne. Conversions: Sacha Mngomezulu (2). Penalty: Sacha Mngomezulu
Vodacom Bulls U20: Try: Tharquin Manuel. Penalties: Jandre Burger (2).
DHL WP u/20: 15 Duran Koevort, 14 Ebenezer Tshimanga, 13 Ethan James, 12 Ruben Labuschagne, 11 Rethabile Louw, 10 Sacha Mngomezulu, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Armand Maritz, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Romuald Ntumba, 5 Dylan De Leeuw (captain), 4 Simon Miller, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 Keagan Blanckenberg, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger. Replacements (from): 16 Christian Lamprecht, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Matthew Coenraad, 19 Rhys Fulford, 20 HD Stemmet, 21 Liam Kloosman, 22 Cade Croy, 23 Hofmeyr Retief, 24 Javier Farmer, 25 Conwill Conradie, 26 Isaiah Wharton.
Vodacom Bulls u/20: 15. Jandre Burger, 14. Tharquin Manuel, 13. Canan Moodie, 12. Niel Beukes, 11. Bayanda Ngubane, 10. FC du Plessis, 9. Tiaan Fourie, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 7. Willie Potgieter, 6. Rynard Mouton (c), 5. Ruan Delport, 4. Raynard Roets, 3. Sebastian Lombard, 2. Keagan Potgieter, 1. Cebo Dhlamini. Replacements: 16. Gideon Serfontein, 17. Tielman Nieuwoudt, 18. Ntokozo Hlope, 19. Hardus Rothmann, 20. Chulumanco Mfakadolo, 21. Johan Muller, 22. Sonwabo Sokoyi, 23. Geraldo Flusk, 24. Eric Basson.