The SARU u/20 Cup got off to an exciting and surprising start as none of the matches delivered the results what was expected. Unfortunately, none of the matches was streamed nor broadcasted and we could only attend the Bulls vs Lions match.
Sigma Lions 32-30 Vodacom Bulls
The Vodacom Bulls hosted the Lions at Loftus in the 1st round of the u/20 competition. The Lions with seven u/20 Springboks in their team were by far the favourites for the match, however, the Bulls controlled the match in the 1st half with possession and territorial advantage.
They kept the Lions pinned in their half with clever tactical kicking and dominant forward play. The good Bulls defence forced the Lions to make mistakes and turnovers whenever they tried to play in the Bulls' half. The score at halftime was 13-5 in favour of the Bulls.
The Lions, however, scored a try within the first minutes of the second half to narrow the scoreline and from there the lead on the scoreboard changed hands between the two teams.
The Bulls continued to dominate the possession and territory, but the Lions found gaps in their defence to score. The Bulls were in the lead right up to the end when the Lions stole the match with a penalty kick to beat the Bulls 32-30.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls u/20: Tries: Tiaan de Lange, Tiaan Fourie, Bayanda Ngubane, Nolan Pienaar. Conversions: Jandre Burger (2). Penalties: Jandre Burger.
Sigma Lions u/20: Tries: Ruan Venter (2), Henco van Wyk (2). Conversions: Jurich Claasens (3). Penalties: Jurich Claasens (2).
We Discuss Week 1 Of The SARU u/20 Cup And Ask Some Questions Regarding The Commitment Of SARU
Leopards u/20 36-25 Toyota Free State
A "bit" of a surprise, however, this result just underlines the brilliant work done by the NWU (Pukke) at their rugby academy in Potchefstroom.
Scorers:
Leopards u/20: Tries: J Cloete, M Mashimbye, E Fredericks (2), C Vlok. Conversions: M Venter (4). Penalty: M Venter.
Toyota Free State u/20: Tries: J Venter, Lesley Botha, J Nel, J Jooste. Conversions: W Basson. Penalty: W Basson.
Eastern Province u/20 23-47 Cell C Sharks u/20
The Cell C Sharks did not disappoint but I am a bit surprised by the 23 points from the Eastern Province. The Cell C Sharks did most of the damage if we take into account the 5 tries they scored.
Scorers:
Eastern Province u/20: Tries: L vd Merwe, T Delport. Conversions: M de Ridder (2). Penalties: M de Ridder (3).
Cell C Sharks u/20: Tries: J Goosen, N Mhere, C Rahl, O Barnard, E Ndiao, E Fischer, S Nkomo. Conversions: B Wilkie (3), Curwin Gertse (3).
| LOG | SARU u/20 Cup | Played | Won | Drawn | Loss | Points Diff | Points |
| 1 | Cell C Sharks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 5 |
| 2 | Leopards | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 |
| 3 | Golden Lions | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Vodacom Bulls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 |
| 5 | Toyota Free State | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -11 | 1 |
| 6 | Eastern Province | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -24 | 0 |
| 7 | Western Province | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |