The SA U21 Cup competition has resumed, with the first batch of second-round matches staged the past weekend since the competition took a break at the start of June, with the Fidelity ADT Lions picking up where they left off three months ago.
The log leaders from Johannesburg travelled to Bloemfontein where they defeated the Toyota Cheetahs 57-32 on Friday afternoon.
Junior Boks Thurlon Williams (flyhalf), Likhona Finca (inside centre) and Hassiem Pead (replacement scrumhalf) featured on the scoresheet for the strong Lions outfit, who outscored their hosts by nine tries to four.
The Free Staters held a slender 22-19 advantage at the break, however, the Joburg side turned the tide in the second half to register a comfortable victory in the end. Williams contributed a try and three conversions to their winning cause.
The Vodacom Bulls U21 outscored the Leopards by eight converted tries while restricting their Potchefstroom hosts to four, of which two were converted, for their 56-24 victory.
The Leopards gave good account of themselves in the first half and were just two points behind with the score 14-12 at the interval. However, the young men from Pretoria cut loose in the second half by scoring six more tries while the hosts could only reply with two of their own.
Junior Bok hooker Juan Smal grabbed a hat-trick of tries, and his SA U20 teammate Liam Koen (flyhalf) chipped in with two tries and two conversions, while replacement hooker Hanro Venter scored two of the Leopards’ tries.
In the remaining fixture staged on Sunday in Stellenbosch, hosts DHL Western Province held onto their second spot on the log when they outplayed the visiting Hollywoodbets Sharks by 30-10.
Province led 17-3 at the break on their way to a good victory during which time they managed to score four tries. Former Junior Bok captain and flanker Paul de Villiers and fellow Junior Boks Asad Moos (scrumhalf) and Joel Leotlela were amongst the try scorers.
After the latest round of matches, the Lions have 29 points, which is a six-point lead over WP (23) and seven more than the Bulls (22). The Sharks follow in fourth place on 10 points, while the Cheetahs have six points and Leopards four.
Next round of SA U21 Cup fixtures:
Friday, 6 September:
14h30: Fidelity ADT Lions vs Leopards – Johannesburg
15h00: Vodacom Bulls vs DHL WP – Pretoria
Saturday, 7 September
13h00: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs Toyota Cheetahs – Durban
