The SA Under-18 ‘A’ side shook off their narrow loss to Ireland to run out comfortable winners by 57-19 in a spirited display against Georgia at Boland Landbou near Wellington on Tuesday, to open their account in the annual U18 International Series.
The young South Africans led 31-5 at halftime and kicked on to eventually score nine tries and six conversions, while Georgia managed three tries and two conversions.
The second round of the annual international tournament kicked off in bright winter sunshine on the outskirts of Wellington in the Western Cape.
Georgia, who delivered a shock win over England in the opening round on Tuesday, struggled with their fundamentals as they were put under pressure by the hosts. Their lineout let them down, they were not as dominant as expected in the scrum and they conceded penalties at regular intervals to allow the South Africans most of the momentum.
The SA U18 ‘A’ side would be happy with especially how they dealt with the Georgian forward challenge, with their strong set piece setting a solid platform for their lively backline.
The hosts opened the scoring early when Thomas Muller (hooker) crashed over after an impressive 30m lineout maul. The Georgians hit back almost immediately and in similar fashion, when Piskhelauri Gocha (hooker) dotted down from a lineout drive.
Tries by Migael Turner (lock) and Ncutu Kepe (wing), who did brilliantly to collect a cross-field kick from SA U18 ‘A; captain and flyhalf Jeandre Uithaler, quickly took the score to 17-5.
With the forwards doing a sterling job and Georgia struggling with the heavy underfoot conditions, the SA U18 ‘A’ side moved into another gear to score further tries through Junade Pasensie (wing) and Quintin Potgieter (No 8). Uithaler added the extras as the South Africans stretched their lead to 31-5, which was just reward for a dominant first-half display.
Georgia was first to score in the second stanza when Balanchivadze Nikoloz (prop) forced his way over for a try converted by replacement flyhalf Butshrikidze Levani to reduce the deficit to 31-12.
However, the hosts hit back with two tries – Potgieter and Pasensie each scoring their second of the match – to increase the lead to 43-12. They were soon followed over the line by hard-running outside centre Erin Nelson, who went over under the posts after a deft pass from Uithaler.
That well-executed try took the score to the half-century mark, with the home side now leading 50-12 with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Georgia carded their third five-pointer, but Uithaler had the last say with another deft kick over the defence for replacement outside back Nathan Aneke to collect and score, taking the score to 57-19.
Scorers:
SA U18 "A": Tries: Thomas Muller, Migael Turner, Ncutu Kepe, Junade Pasensie (2), Quintin Potgieter (2), Erin Nelson, Nathan Aneke. Conversions: Jeandre Uithaler (6).
Georgia U18: Tries: Pitskhelauri Gocha, Balanchivadze Nikoloz, Gabriel Razmadze. Conversions: Butshrikidze Levani (2).
Teams:
South Africa U18 "A": 1 Pieter Cilliers, 2 Thomas Muller, 3 Deon Botes, 4 Lian Terblanche, 5 Migael Turner, 6 Briint Davids, 7 Liam Lightley, 8 Quintin Potgieter, 9 Mickyle Booise, 10 Jeandre Uithaler, 11 Ncuthu Kepe, 12 Sbabalwe Magwebu, 13 Erin Nelson, 14 Junade Pasensie, 15 Ethan Van Biljon. Replacements: 16 Keenan Myners, 17 Jeffrey Singo, 18 Bernhard Du Toit, 19 Diaan Augustyn, 20 Nhlanhla Ndlovu, 21 Zirk Meyer, 22 Lizwe Mtetwa, 23 Nathan Aneke, 24 Reinhart Viljoen, 25 Jeneall Davids.
Georgia U18: 1 Nikoloz Balanchivadze, 2 Gocha Pitshkhelauri, 3 Gabriel Razmadze, 4 Andria Bilanishvili, 5 Nikolozi Chkhortolia, 6 Giorgi Zazadze, 7 Zaza Lezhava, 8 Mate Beruashvili, 9 Nikoloz Khapava, 10 Mate Makharadze, 11 Luka Tabatadze, 12 Goga Beridze, 13 Data Akhvlediani, 14 Giorgi Mushkudiani, 15 Davit Arobelidze. Replacements: 16 Luka Tsiklauri, 17 Saba Mshvildadze, 18 Giorgi Berdzenishvili, 19 Ioseb Ghvinjilia, 20 Luka Shulaia, 21 Goga Ushveridze, 22 Levani Butskhrikidze, 23 Iva Kviriahvili, 24 Demetre Devdariani, 25 Tato Talakhadze, 26 Giorgi Ardzenadze.