The race for places in the SA Rugby U20 Cup semi-finals intensified over the weekend as the Vodacom Bulls, Fidelity ADT Golden Lions and Toyota Cheetahs all secured valuable round eight victories.
Playing on Friday, the Bulls produced the most dominant performance of the round, defeating Hollywoodbets Sharks GEN 59-7 in Pretoria to further strengthen their position at the top of the standings.
Also on Friday, the Cheetahs collected a crucial bonus-point win in a 14-try thriller against the Leopards U20 in Bloemfontein, which ended 56-42 in their favour.
Meanwhile, the Lions continued their impressive campaign with a 26-12 victory over the DHL Stormers Bolts at 10bet Ellis Park.
The Bulls consolidated first place and increased their tally to 37 log points, while the Lions strengthened their hold on second spot with 34 points. The Bolts are third on 29, followed by the Sharks (16), Cheetahs (14) and the Leopards on eight points.
Kicking off the round eight proceedings, the Lions laid the foundation for victory with a dominant first-half display in Johannesburg over the Bolts, racing into a 19-point lead before the visitors from Cape Town responded after the break.
Tries by Miguel Smith and Lindelani Nkambule, who scored twice, gave the Lions control before Grady Ngui sealed the result late in the contest. The visitors replied through RJ Davids and Jayden Brits, but never seriously threatened the Lions’ advantage.
The Vodacom Bulls showcased their title credentials with a ruthless nine-try performance over the Hollywoodbets Sharks GEN at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, where they won 59-7 after leading by 26-7 at the halfway stage.
Four first-half tries, including one by Junior Bok Kebotile Maake, paved the way for an emphatic victory before the hosts added five more after the break. Ruben Groenewald enjoyed an outstanding day with the boot, converting seven tries. Junior Bok loose forward Wasi Vyambwera scored the Durbanites’ solo try.
The highest-scoring match of the round saw the Toyota Cheetahs outlast a determined Leopards by 56-42 side in Bloemfontein. The hosts crossed for eight tries, while the visitors refused to go away and scored six of their own in a contest that produced 98 points.
The Cheetahs scored three tries to one before the break to lead 21-7 and they kicked on from there for a deserved home victory. For the winners, Bendre Vermaak scored twice while Heinz Stockenstrom succeeded with eight conversions, two more than Marno Greeff, who was also a try scorer for the team from Potch.
In next weekend’s penultimate round of league games, the Bulls face Cheetahs Saturday in Pretoria; the Sharks GEN take on Lions at home on Durban; while the Stormers Bolts clash with Leopards in Cape Town.
Scorers:
Fidelity ADT Golden Lions U20 26 (19), DHL Stormers U20 Bolts 12 (0)
Lions – Tries: Lindelani Nkambule (2), Miguel Smith, Grady Ngui. Conversions: Matthew Abbey (3).
Bolts – Tries: RJ Davids, Jayden Brits. Conversion: Rikus Pretorius.
Vodacom Bulls U20 59 (26), Hollywoodbets Sharks GEN 7 (0)
Bulls – Tries: Junaide Stuart, Kebotile Maake, Stefan McDonald, Brooklyn Newman, Jonathan Harding, Dylan Engelbrecht, Hendré Schoeman, Christiaan Grundling, Bongani Dlamini Conversions: Ruben Groenewald (7).
Sharks – Try: Wasi Vyambwera. Conversion: Jamal Abrahams.
Toyota Cheetahs U20 56 (21) Leopards U20 42 (7)
Cheetahs – Tries: Bendre Vermaak (2), Dian Venter, Bernard Wessels, Petrus Oberholzer, Bohlale Maphisa, Jade Muller, Anrich Scheffer. Conversions: Heinz Stockenstrom (8).
Leopards – Tries: David Ndala, Zuan Rautenbach, Raluano Ramano, Kian Rademeyer, GJ Steenberg, Marno Greeff. Conversions: Marno Greeff (6).
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
