The second round of the SA u/20 Championship again produced some "surprising" results with only the Sigma Lions u/20 who had a bye and the Leopards u/20 who draw with Western Province u/20 still unbeaten.
The Vodacom Bulls "surprised" again as their young team managed to come back in the second half to beat the early favourites at home in Durban. The Leopards again showed that they will be in the playoffs with a "great" effort against Western Province to secure a draw.
Round 3 (27 Aug 2021) will see the Cheetahs travelling to Pretoria, Sharks to Johannesburg and Western Province travel to Port Elizabeth.
Cell C Sharks u/20 31-33 Vodacom Bulls u/20
The first match of Round 2 of the SA Rugby u/20 Championship did not disappoint as both teams were willing to play exciting rugby.
The Sharks stormed into the lead and led 24-14 at the break, however, the young team of the Bulls came back in the second half to edge the "early favourites" to win 33-31.
Both teams scored 4 tries each with the Bulls awarded a penalty try which secured the game.
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks u/20: Tries: Jaques Goosen, Corne Rahl, Siviwe Zondani, Ethan Fisher. Conversions: Brandon Wilkie (4). Penalty: Brandon Wilkie.
Vodacom Bulls u/20: Tries: Rynard Mouton (2), Canan Moodie, Niel Beukes, Penalty Trie. Conversions: Jandre Burger, FC du Plessis (2).
Cell C Sharks U/20: 15. Lloyd Koster, 14. Curwin Gertse, 13. Ethan Fisher, 12. Mambo Mkhize, 11. Siviwe Zondani, 10. Brandon Wilkie, 9. Bradley Davids, Siya Ningiza, 7. Enios Ndiao, 6. Damon Royle, 5. Ockie Barnard (c), 4. Corne Rahl, 3. Monashe Mhere, 2. Jaques Goosen, 1. Braam Reyneke. Replacements: 16. Jordan Mcloughlin, 17. Charles Gamhiwa, 18. Blaine Golden, 19. Tiaan Jonker, 20. Jaques Marais, 21. Daimon O'Connell, 22. Simelela Nkomo, 23. Kian Meadon, 24 William Proudfoot, 25. Katlegi Thinyane
Vodacom Bulls u/20: 15. FC du Plessis, 14. Tharquin Manuel 13. C Moodie, 12. Carlton Bannies, 11. Franco Knoetze, 10. Jandre Burger, 9. Tiaan Fourie, 8. Raynard Mouton (c), 7. Reinhardt Ludwig, 6. Chulumanco Mfakadolo, 5. T de Klerk, 4. Raynard Roets, 3. Sebastian Lombard, 2. Enrico Corties, 1. Cebo Dlamini. Replacements: 16. K Potgieter, 17. Tielman Nieuwoudt, 18. Nolan Pienaar, 19. Ruan Delport, 20. Willie Potgieter, 21. C Hanekom, 22. Johan Muller, 23. Neil Beukes, 24. B Ngubane.
Toyota Free State u/20 24-18 Eastern Province u/20
Both sides did lose their opening matches and the rugby they played will certainly cost them valuable points against the other teams if they do not drastically improve their ill-discipline.
Morne de Ridder scored all Easter Province's points as he converted 4 penalties while Eastern Province received 3 yellow cards with loosehead prop Cade Cambier yellow-carded twice in the game.
The Cheetahs were in the lead with 24-09 in the lead at the halftime break, and could not add any points in the second half. Eastern Province added two penalties in the second half.
Scorers:
Toyota Free State u/20: Tries: Marnus Nel, Avumile Bongco, Jooste Nel, Lesley Botha. Conversions: Wikus Basson (2).
Eastern Province u/20: Penalties: Monre de Ridder (6).
Toyota Cheetahs: 15. Jandre Nel, 14. Chad Josias, 13. Lesley Botha, 12. Jooste Nel, 11. Jay-Dee Jooste, 10. Wikus Basson, 9. Xander Botha, 8. Bennett Nortje (C ), 7. Francois Bester, 6. Avumile Bongco, 5. Kevin Strydom, 4. Janko Blignaut, 3. Ali Gqaza, 2. Marnus Nel, 1. Zukisa Sali. Reserves: 16. Delmar Degenaar, 17. Warren Louw, 18. Frank Nchabeng, 19. Zander du Toit, 20. Jacobus Venter, 21. Hlumelo Klaas, 22. Tyrick Johannes, 23. Leyton Valentine, 24. Stefan Nortje, 25. Johannes Odendaal, 26. Juan-Dee Olivier.
Eastern Province: 15. D Swartz, 14. F Flepu, 13. N Ngobe, 12. T Delport, 11. S Hannes, 10. M de Ridder, 9. D Edwards, 8. C Cambier, 7. L vd Merwe, 6. T Dyanti, 5. D Halgreen (c), 4. J Friend, 3. M Prince, 2. L Memani, 1. J Caraher. Replacements: 16. Y Dladla, 17. D Swart, 18. M Nortje, 19. R Claassen, 20. D Alberts, 21. O Muller, 22. C September, 23. J Petrus, 24. C Finnis, 25. L Goliath, 26. T de Klerk.
DHL Western Province u/20 14-14 Leopards u/20
Western Province had a bye last weekend while the Leopards had a good win against Free State.
Western Province started like a house on fire a were leading 14-0 after just 24 minutes in the first half. They led 14-7 at the break and managed a draw with 14-14 at the end.
The Leopards started slow but ended the stronger of the two sides. The Leopards are going to surprise more teams in the coming weeks.
Scorers:
DHL Western Province u/20: Tries: Keagan Blanckenberg, Jarrod Tayloer. Conversions: Meyr Retief (2).
Leopards u/20: Tries: Abre Minnie, Naiden Jaarts. Conversions: Martin Venter (2).
DHL Western Province u/20: 15 Duran Koevort, 14 Javier Farmer, 13 Oliver Jones, 12 Meyr Retief, 11 Luke Burger, 10 Cade Croy, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Armand Maritz, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Romuald Ntumba, 5 Dylan De Leeuw (captain), 4 Simon Miller, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 Keagan Blanckenberg, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger. Replacements (from): 16 Mauritz Swart, 17 Christian Lamprecht, 18 Jovan Bekker, 19 Rhys Fulford, 20 Taariq Kruger, 21 Abdur-Rageem Ismail, 22 Sacha Mngomezulu, 23 Jacques Rousseau, 24 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 25 Lamla Nunu, 26 Liam Kloosman.
Leopards u/20: 15. I. Phatudi, 14. E. Fredericks, 13. G. Ackerman, 12. T. Pretorius, 11. N. Jaarts, 10. M. Venter, 9. A. Minnie, 8. M. Mashimbye, 7. J. Eloff, 6. J. Cloete, 5. F. Du Plessis, 4. B. Borcher, 3. P Naude, 2. V Paulo (c), 1. D Lebelo. Replacements: 16. C van Zyl, 17. D Matome Melebo, 18. N Francis, 19. C Steenkamp, 20. T van Zyl, 21. S Zungo, 22. C Vlok, 23. L vd Walt, 24. K Windvogel, 25. J vd Walt, 26. S Jaarse.