The Vodacom Bulls u/20 hosted DHL Western Province for the SARU u/20 Cup Final at Loftus in wet and cold conditions. The much anticipated final was played in typical match-final style with low scoring rugby with an initial tight arm wrestle between the teams.
However, the slow poison exerted by the dominant Bulls’ forwards allowed them to take control of the match towards the end which gave them a 29-10 victory and made them the well-deserved u/20 champions.
The first half started slowly with both teams trying to adapt to the wet conditions with conservative tactical kicking rugby to try and force errors by the other team. Western Province applied the first pressure after 9 minutes by playing the bulls into their half but a strong scrum by the Bulls allowed them to get possession and play out of their half with a good line kick.
The Bulls then took control of the possession and forced Western Province into their quarter with a penalty lineout from where they were awarded a free-kick. The Bulls opted to scrum and overpowered Western Province which led to a penalty try for the Bulls.
The Bulls forwards who were by now dominating the scrums also created a good platform with strong driving mauls. However, handling errors hampered the Bulls' ability to get good forward momentum going despite also enjoying the territorial advantage.
Western Province however managed to score a try late in the half when they beat the Bulls’ backline defence to equal the score at 7-7. They started to play the ball away from the Bulls’ forwards and found gaps in the Bulls’ backline defence placing the Bulls under pressure. This resulted in a penalty against the Bulls at the end of the half which Western Province successfully kicked to take the lead. The halftime score was 7-10 in favour of Western Province.
The second half started with the Bulls continuing to play with their dominant forwards which placed Western Province under tremendous pressure on their try line. A yellow card given against Western Province opened the door for the Bulls to score a converted try to retake the lead 14-10. The Bulls were soon back in the Western Province quarter and a fumbled ball by the Western Province backline allowed the Bulls to kick it through over the try line to score a try and increase their lead to 19-10.
The slow poison exerted by the Bulls allowed them to take control of the match and they scored another two tries to convincingly beat Western Province.
16:31 Penalty try awarded to the Bulls (7-0).
38:12 Western Province fullback Luke Burger scores a try after beating the Bulls’ backline defence. Converted by Sacha Mngomezulu (7-7).
40:00 Penalty given against the Bulls which was successfully kicked by Sacha Mngomezulu (7-10).
49:51 Yellow card given against Western Province hooker.
52:11 The Bulls score a try after Cameron Hanekom crashes over the try line after good pressure play by the Bulls forwards on the Western Province try line. Converted by Franco Knoetze (14-10).
61:10 Bulls replacement Rowan Cloete scores a try after a ball was fumbled by Western province and kicked through over the try line. The conversion was unsuccessful (19-10).
71:02 The Bulls score a well-worked try when Quewin Nortje fell on the ball after a clever chip kick. The conversion was unsuccessful (24-10).
77:10 Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom forces his way over the try line to score after strong forward play. The conversion was unsuccessful (29-10).
Scores:
Vodacom Bulls: Tries: Penalty try, Cameron Hanekom (2), Rowan Cloete. Conversions: Franco Knoetze.
DHL Western Province: Tries: Luke Burger. Conversions: Sacha Mngomezulu. Penalty: Sacha Mngomezulu.
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls u/20: 15. Franco Knoetze, 14. Katlego Letebele,13. Gert Steyn,12. Sonwabo Sokoyi, 11. Quewin Nortje, 10. Carlton Banies, 9. Tiaan Fourie; 8. Cameron Hanekom, 7. Eric Basson (c), 6. Rynard Mouton, 5. Marco de Witt, 4. Merwe Olivier, 3. Sebastian Lombaard, 2. Tiaan Lange, 1. Corne Lavagna. Replacements: 16. Johan Lombard, 17. Juann Else, 18. Johan Louw, 19. Ruan Delport, 20. Willie Potgieter, 21. Rowan Cloete, 22. Abulele Ndabambi, 23. Moemagare Motlhodi.
DHL Western Province u/20: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Ebenezer Tshimanga, 13 Ethan James, 12 Hofmeyr Retief, 11 Paschal Ekeji, 10 Sacha Mngomezulu, 9 FC Fourie, 8 Armand Maritz (captain), 7 Jan Cilliers, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Hendrik Sieberhagen, 4 Oliver Kurz, 3 Nande Moses, 2 Gustav Laubscher, 1 Lamla Nunu. Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Yannick Marais, 18 Liam Sproston, 19 Danie Louw, 20 Aiden Christian, 21 Jacques Theron, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Masande Mtshali.