SA U18 Remain Unbeaten With Second-half Blitz Against England U18

 

The SA Under-18s defeated England by 69-24 in their final match of the U18 International Series at Paarl Gimnasium on Saturday to gain their third victory in a row and finish the series unbeaten.

They maintained their fine form, which saw them defeating France with 43-21 in the opening match before a 45-5 win over Ireland in their second outing earlier in the week.

The SA U18S quickly raced onto a 21-3 lead before adding a penalty goal, but then conceded two tries to the English, who would have been encouraged by their grit and determination to end the half with a 24-17.

But the SA U18S took back control of the match in the second half and added a further seven tries after the break while also impressing with their defence, which kept England scoreless in the soft Paarl downpour until right at the end.

Speedster Jadriaan Afrikaner finished off a slick backline movement inside the first five minutes to hand the SA U18S a 7-0 lead. Barely two minutes later, No. 8 Gert Kemp crashed over for their second after they had suffocated England in their own half. With flyhalf Liyema Nela adding his second conversion, the SA U18S were firmly with their tails up at 14-0.

England tried to hit back, but their maul was met with stern resilience from the home defence, while their scrum also struggled to contain the SA forward combination.

Skipper Markus Muller got their third when he followed up a charged-down kick, and when Nela added the third from a very acute angle, the SA 18s were in the driving seat with the score at 21-0, while England hardly had a sniff of threatening the home tryline.

In fact, the English first points came exactly halfway through the first half when pivot Hugh Shields slotted a mid-range penalty to reduce their deficit to 21-3

Shortly thereafter, the English were rewarded for their endeavours, though when tighthead prop Lawrence Ogbonnaya barged over for a converted try as they clawed their way back into the game at 21-10.

With England threatening to gain momentum, the SA U18S opted for an easy, short-range penalty goal to keep the scoreboard pressure going through Nela’s successful kick (24-10), but they conceded another converted try when England scored through flanker Henry Horsfall to make the halftime score 24-17 in the home side’s favour.

The SA U18S started the second stanza like they started the match, which saw Muller put in a forceful run, which led to midfield partner Ethan Adams going over, and the bulky inside centre was soon followed over the tryline when right wing Juanaide Stuart collected a cross-field kick to dive in the corner to make it 36-17.

The SA forwards were now hitting their straps, and it came as no surprise when tighthead prop JG Badenhorst was sent over for another well-worked effort, which was converted by Ruben Groenewald (replacement flyhalf) as they stretched their advantage to 43-17.

The impressive Muller then added a second of the afternoon when he was on hand to take a final pass from Adams after a solid SA scrum had put the England pack in reverse gear.

That converted try took the SA U18 score to 50-17 and then made it 55-17 through Altus Rabe’s maul try. Loose forward Josh Neill also got into the scoring act when he barged over the whitewash, and Groenewald added the extras to make the score 62-17.

There was still enough time for replacement centre Christian Vorster to add his name to the list of try scorers as the SA U18S ran amok with the score at 69-17 against an exhausted English opponent.

However, it was the English who managed the last score of the match through a skipper Declan Treacey’s converted try, which reduced the final score to 69-24 in SA U18S' favour.

Scorers:

South Africa U18: Tries: Jadriaan Afrikaner, Gert Kemp, Markus Muller (2), Ethan Adams, Junaide Stuart, JG Badenhorst, Altus Rabe, Josh Neill, Christian Vorster. Conversions: Liyema Nela (4), Ruben Groenewald (4). Penalty: Liyema Nela

England: Tries: Lawrence Ogbonnaya, Henry Horsfall, Declan Treacey. Conversions: Hugh Shields, Oscar Talbot. Penalty: Hugh Shields.

Teams:

South Africa U18: 1 Kai Pratt, 2 Altus Rabe, 3 JG Badenhorst, 4 Jayden Joubert, 5 AJ Meyer, 6 Chinedu Amadi, 7 Josh Neill, 8 Gert Kemp, 9 Morne Noble, 10 Liyema Nela, 11 Jadrian Afrikaner, 12 Ethan Adams, 13 Markus Muller, 14 Junaide Stuart, 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya. Replacements: 16 Keenan Myners, 17 Jordan Jooste, 18 Matthew Van Der Merwe, 19 Lwandile Mlaba, 20 Wasi Vyambwera, 21 Jacobus De Villiers, 22 Jayden Brits, 23 Ruben Groenewald, 24 Christian Vorster, 25 Lamla Mgedezi, 26 Thabiso Simelane.

England U18: 1 Oliver Spencer, 2 Casper Wheeler, 3 Lawrence Ogbonnaya, 4 Kwame Bekoe, 5 Henry Laidlow, 6 Henry Horsfall, 7 Jack Lewis, 8 Charlie Bray, 9 James Townsend, 10 Hugh Shields, 11 Charlie Tamani, 12 Declan Treacey, 13 Ollie Batson, 14 Krystof Wood, 15 Ajay Edwards. Replacements: 16 Marcus Southwell, 17 Aiden Reid, 18 Seva Batikora, 19 Freddie Jones, 20 Jordan Ikeh, 21 AJ Henry, 22 Will Bayston, 23 Oscar Talbot, 24 Will Payton, 25 Sonny Goode.