The Lions u/20 hosted the DHL Western Province u/20 at the Emirates Airline Park in a top of the log battle in the 2022 SARU u/20 Championship. The Lions u/20s had to defend for their life at the end but managed to stop the wave after wave attack during the last ten minutes to win with 22-17.
The game did not disappoint as both sides did not shy away from a very physical battle. It took the hosts twelve minutes to open the scoring by hooker Ricardo Fourie. Fourie has scored a try in all three matches in the 2022 season. Western Province u/20 replied almost immediately when Pashcal Ekeji scored a great try to level the score.
The rest of the first forty minutes was an extremely physical battle with several injuries. The Lions u/20 scored two tries during the last five minutes of the first half to stretch their lead to 19-07 at the break.
Both sides could only add a converted penalty each during the third quarter, however, it was clear that the visitors started building towards their famous comeback during the last ten minutes of the game. Paschal Ekeji, that had a great game, scored the visitors' second try with six minutes to go and it was game on with the score 22-17.
Only sometimes desperate defence by the hosts kept the boys from Cape Town from scoring a final minute winning try. A brilliant physical game by the two top teams in the 2022 SARU u/20 Cup.
Scorers:
Lions u/20: Tries: Ricardo Fourie, Henk Gouws, Tiaan Wessels. Conversions: Sihlalo Benge. Penalty: Sihlalo Benge.
DHL Western Province: Tries: Paschal Ekeji (2). Conversions: Sacha Mngomezulu (2). Penalty: Sacha Mngomezulu.
Teams:
Lions u20: Sam Francis 14. Lungelo Sithole 13. Josh Jonas 12. Bronson Mills 11. Keagan Smith 10. Sihlalo Benge 9. Layton Horn 8. Sisonke Vumazonke 7. Tiaan Wessels 6. Joshua van Vreden 5. Henk Gouws 4. Justin Kalamer 3. John-Kelly Okonkwo 2. Ricardo Fourie 1. Heiko Pohlmann. Replacements: Sikholise Nanto 17. SJ Kotze 18. S de Bruyn 19. Tyler van Wijk 20. Nathan Lainis 21. B Bosch 22.Josh Herold 23. K Mpeku 24. Dan Botha 25. A Weideman 26. Ndinovuyo Holiday.
DHL Western Province u/20: 15. Luke Burger, 14. Masande Mtshali, 13. Ethan James (c), 12. Hofmeyr Retief, 11. Paschal Ekeji, 10. Sacha Mngomezulu, 9. FC Fourie, 8. Ethan Snyman, 7. Jan Gouws, 6. Paul de Villiers, 5. Hendrik Sieberhagen, 4. Daniel Louw, 3. Corne Weilbach, 2. Francois Breytenbach, 1. Lamla Nunu. Replacements: 16. Nande Moses, 17. Yannick Marais, 18. Liam Sproston, 19. Jan-Daniel Cilliers, 20. Carlos da Costa, 21. Jacques Theron, 22. Jonathan Roche, 23. Melbirt van der Spuy.
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