The Fidelity ADT Lions gained their seventh victory on the trot in the SA Rugby U21 Cup when they outclassed the Leopards 72-36 in Johannesburg on Friday, while the Vodacom Bulls recorded win number five with a 38-28 result over DHL Western Province in Pretoria.
(Click here to view SA Rugby U21 Cup Log)
In the last fixture of the round played in Durban, the Hollywoodbets Sharks U21 overrun their Toyota Cheetahs counterparts by 69-19.
Playing in the first of two fixtures on Friday, the Lions raced into a 36-19 halfway lead in an open, attacking first half display. They eventually went on to score 10 tries while conceding six at the same time.
De Wet Lottering (hooker), Junior Bok Siba Mahashe (flanker) and Keagan Smith (wing) each bagged two tries while Sam Francis (flyhalf) hit the target with four conversions and a penalty goal for the Highvelders.
Kraynu Kruger (hooker) and Hanro Venter (replacement hooker) also scored two tries each for the Leopards.
Playing on the Loftus Versfeld B-field in the later Friday fixture, the Vodacom Bulls’ youngsters ran in six tries to five against their arch-rivals, DHL WP.
The Pretoria outfit overturned a 20-17 halftime deficit to edge out the Capetonians thanks to a strong effort in the second half. Inside centre Kobus Janse van Rensburg went over for two tries, while fullback Regan Izaks succeeded with five conversions and a penalty goal with the boot.
Former Junior Bok halfback Imad Khan was on target with two conversions and two penalty goals for Province.
In the remaining fixture played on Saturday in Durban, former SA U21 prop Mawande Mdanda scored a hat-trick of tries for Hollywoodbets Sharks U21 in their 69-19 romp over their Free State opponents. The Durbanites’ playmaker Frederick Marx added six conversions to his try, for a personal contribution of 17 points on the day.
With three league rounds remaining, The Lions top the standings with 34 points after seven rounds, followed by the Bulls (27), WP (23) and the Sharks (15). Bringing up the rear are the Cheetahs (6) and Leopards (5).
The next round kicks off at 14h00 on Friday, when DHL WP and the Fidelity ADT Lions clash in Cape Town. There are also two games on Saturday – the Hollywoodbets Sharks host the Vodacom Bulls from 13h00 in Durban, and the Leopards take on the Toyota Cheetahs in Potchefstroom at 13h30.
