The Golden Lions and Blue Bulls extended their winning streaks in the second round of the FNB U16 Grant Khomo Week staged at Kearsney College in Botha's Hill near Durban on Wednesday, and will meet in the main match on the final day of the tournament on Friday.
The second day of the FNB U16 Grant Khomo tournament delivered its fair share of drama, with Griquas, the Leopards, Namibia, Border, Valke, Sharks, Iqhawe, Bulls, Sharks XV, Lions and Boland claiming victories.
The Leopards, Border, Bulls, Sharks XV and Lions extended their winning runs, while Griquas, Namibia, the Valke, Sharks and Boland bounced back from the defeats on Monday.
Day two fixtures – Wednesday 1 July 2026:
A-field:
Western Province 33-34 Golden Lions
Western Province’s Raa’id Davids scored an “easy” try within the first 3 minutes of the start of the match. The Lions replied with a converted penalty after 7 minutes of play. The Lions continued their onslaught, and Adam Brown worked hard to score their first try to lead 10-07. Thereafter, scrummy Oratile Tyamu sniped to score a long-distance try, extending their lead to 17-07. However, Western Province Lian van Zijl had no problem cruising past several Lions defenders to cut the Lions' lead to 3 points after 20 minutes of play in the first half. With 3 minutes to play, the Lions were awarded a penalty, extending their lead to 24-14, which was the halftime score.
Western Province started like a house on fire, and Fabio Van Wyk scored off the back of a brilliant 30m lineout-maul after 2 minutes of play in the second half. The Lions replied immediately when fullback Connor De Matteis cut the defence of the Western Province in two to score a brilliant individual try. The Lions led 31-19. Brilliant structured defence by the Lions kept Western Province from scoring until Logan Linnen scored a brilliant try, beating several Lions’ defenders to cut the Lions' lead to 31-26 and 12 minutes to play in the second half. Western Province launched wave after wave of attacks, and Lian van Zijl crashed over the Lions' tryline. With time running out, the Lions converted a penalty to secure a 34-33 win.
Blue Bulls 48-38 Free State
The Free State started like a house on fire, and following wave after wave of attacks, Janco Gouws crashed past several defenders to open the scoring for the Cheetahs. The Bulls responded immediately, and Travis Feta forced his way over the Cheetahs' tryline to level the scores after 15 minutes of play in the first half. With 10 minutes to play, Louwrens Grober ran a brilliant line to cut the Cheetahs' defence in two to score the Bulls' second try. The try fest continued when Jayden Els celebrated his return to the pitch after a yellow card with a strong run to level the scores at 12-12 and 6 minutes still to play. The Bulls replied with a try by Gerrit du Plooy following hard work by his forwards. With time running out, Louwrens Grobler sniped past several defenders to extend the Bulls' lead to 24-12 at the halftime break.
Free State started again like a house on fire, and following wave after wave of attacks, Tatum Kers crashed over to cut the Bulls’ lead to 24-19; however, the Bulls’ Tyron Strauzz replied almost immediately to extend the Bulls' lead to 31-19 after 7 minutes of play in the second half. Lehakoe Mokoena crushed over the try-scoring sheet to extend the Bulls’ lead to 38-19 after 11 minutes of play in the second half. The Free State upped the intensity of their attack, and eventually Usenathi Qamba crashed over in the corner to cut the Bulls' lead to 38-26. However, Tyron Strauss intercepted a Free State pass to extend the Bulls’ lead to 43-26 with 12 minutes to play. Next, it was the Free State’s Taliesin Griffiths’ turn to score for the Free State, and then Lehakoe Mokoena scored for the Bulls. Eventually, the Bulls won 40-38.
Sharks 27-12 Pumas
The Sharks scored the first try of the match when Xavier Jaftha collected his own kick that bounced off the corner flag and crashed over to extend the Sharks' lead to 07-00. After ten minutes of play, Phenyo Chisi beat the Pumas’ defenders with pace to extend the Sharks' lead to 12-00. The Pumas did convert a penalty; however, the Sharks continued their brilliant attacking efforts, and Warona Modise scored a brilliant try in the corner. The Pumas did not give up, and Gerhard du Plessis scored off the back of a lineout-maul to open their scoring. With time up on the clock, Sphiwe Kwela crashed over for the Pumas’ second try to go into the second half trailing 12-17 to the Sharks.
The Pumas started to dominate; however, a brilliant grubber by the Sharks’ Aphiwe Ntamo was controlled by winger Phenyo Chisi, who scored a great try to extend the Sharks' lead to 22-12 after 12 minutes of play in the second half. Warona Modise scored a great try down the touchline to extend the Sharks’ lead to 27-12, with 10 minutes still to play. The Sharks deservedly won 27-12.
Border 25-17 SWD
Border opened the scoring after 8 minutes of play with a converted penalty. 10 minutes later, Border attacked with a quick tap, and following several players handling the ball, lock John Schmidt scored in the corner, extending Border's lead to 08-00. SWD replied almost immediately with Roche Munro crashing over in the corner, cutting Border’s lead to 08-05 with 8 minutes to play. Two minutes later, Axola Qabaka replied for Boland, scoring in the corner, to which SWD replied with a try by hooker Malique McGregor to trail 13-10. The try-fest continued, and winger Uyanda Meveni scored a great individual try to extend Border’s lead to 18-10 going into the second half.
SWD opened the scoring in the second half when Juan Swem stepped past several defenders to score a great try, cutting Borders' lead to just one point. With time up on the clock, Border’s Zac Roseleur picked up the ball from the back of a scrum and ran 40-odd meters to secure a 25-17 win for Border.
Limpopo Bulls 12-43 Leopards
Following 12 minutes of high-speed action, Ruben Vorster crashed over off the back of a lineout maul to put Limpopo 05-00 into the lead. The Leopards had several long-distance try-scoring opportunities, and eventually they stretched the defence of the Limpopo, opening space for hooker Nico Theron to score a brilliant try. The try was converted to edge the Leopards into a 07-05 lead with 5 minutes still to play in the first half. However, Limpopo’s prop Philani Sigiqa crashed over for their second try to go into the halftime break leading 12-07.
Eden de Villiers sliced the defence of Limpopo within the first 2 minutes of the second half, for the Leopards to retake the lead 14-12. Five minutes later, the Leopards converted a penalty, extending their lead to 17-12. After ten minutes of play, the Leopards scored off the back of a line-out maul to extend their lead to 22-12. With 8 to play, Houston Petrus crashed over for the Leopards' 4th try, extending the Leopards’ lead to 29-12. The speed of the attack of the Leopards was too much for the defence of Limpopo, and Ruben Broderick and Mondray Arendse added their names to the try-scoring sheet to secure a 43-12 win for the Leopards.
B-Field:
Griquas 70-00 Border CD
Namibia 90-00 Kenya
Valke 71-05 Zimbabwe
Griffons 22-24 Iqhawe
Sharks XV 40-14 Blue Bulls XV
Eastern Province 12-21 Boland