The semi-finals of all the competitions take place starting on Friday afternoon. The log toppers of the u19’s were the Bulls while WP finished first in the u21’s. Both teams are expected to progress to their respective age-group finals. The real attention will be on the other two semis which are expected to be closely fought affairs. Here the Lions u19’s host the Sharks u19, while the Bulls u21 strengthened by the return of several senior Currie Cup players are home to the Sharks u21.
Two very important junior promotion-relegation matches between sides from Border and the Eastern Province Kings are also scheduled to take place this weekend.
| Age Gr | Date | Time | Home | Away | 1st Round | 2nd Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| u19 | 18/10/2013 | 16h00 | Golden Lions | Sharks | 21-13 | 9-25 | ||
| u19 | 19/10/2013 | 13h00 | Blue Bulls | Leopards | 61-14 | 48-12 | ||
| u21 | 19/10/2013 | 12h00 | WP | Golden Lions | 53-26 | 39-5 | ||
| u21 | 19/10/2013 | 15h00 | Blue Bulls | Sharks | 19-15 | 29-35 | ||
| Senior | 19/10/2013 | 14h30 | WP | Golden Lions | 31-31 | 36-23 | ||
| Senior | 19/10/2013 | 17h00 | Sharks | Free State | 15-18 | 50-26 |
LOGS
| # | UNDER-19 TEAM | P | W | PTS | # | UNDER-21 TEAM | P | W | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Bulls | 12 | 12 | 56 | 1 | Western Province | 12 | 11 | 54 | |
| 2 | Golden Lions | 12 | 8 | 39 | 2 | Blue Bulls | 12 | 8 | 41 | |
| 3 | Sharks | 12 | 8 | 38 | 3 | Sharks | 12 | 8 | 40 | |
| 4 | Leopards | 12 | 5 | 32 | 4 | Golden Lions | 12 | 7 | 36 | |
| 5 | Western Province | 12 | 4 | 25 | 5 | Free State | 12 | 6 | 31 | |
| 6 | Free State | 12 | 4 | 24 | 6 | Leopards | 12 | 2 | 15 | |
| 7 | Border | 12 | 0 | 1 | 7 | Border | 12 | 0 | 3 |
Kings junior sides had their promotion-relegation matches yesterday. Kings u19s deserved winners as they beat Border u19s 27-20. Their u21 side unfortunately couldn’t get the victory losing the match after the hooter had gone when Border u21s put over a very questionable penalty to win 23-21.
Bulls vs WP in u.21 final and Bulls vs Lions in u.19 final.
Can WP repeat the feat of their schoolboy performances in 2013?
@vatikaki: I’m not sure about all the players mentioned. I know Nicol Heyns was injured for quite a while during the start of the season but as far as I know Nicol is still studying at Stellenbosch
@BuffelsCM:
Saw that yeah.
I assume Sithole & Oelofse are injured, as they’re suddenly behind Chowles which would otherwise come as a massive surprise heading into a semi-final. Nicol Heyns hasn’t featured at all this season either so not sure if he’s still with Province or not.
Kobus van Wyk I know was injured a few weeks ago, but again guessing with Kyle Lombard, as he’s been ahead of Kotze all season, so it would come as a surprise if he’s all of a sudden been overtaken.
@vatikaki: During Saturday’s match Kebble, Smid, Van Vuuren and Grobler were all injured. I know Grobler has fractured his ankle
Western Province Under-21
15. Dillyn Leyds
14. Craig Barry
13. Johnny Kotze
12. Pat Howard
11. Devon Williams
10. Tim Swiel
9. Godlen Masimla
8. Sikhumbuzo Notshe
7. Josh Katzen (captain)
6. Justin Benn
5. Ruan Botha
4. Jean Kleyn
3. Entienne Swanepoel
2. Michael Willemse
1. Justin Ackerman
Replacements:
16. Stephan Coetzee
17. Deacon Chowles
18. Carel du Preez
19. Eital Bredenkamp
20. Jean Nel
21. JP Lewis
22. Janco Gunter
Must be a bucket load of injuries. Just off the top of my head we seem to be missing: Oliver Kebble, Sti Sithole, Niel Oelofse, Gerbrandt Grobler, Jurie van Vuuren, Rayn Smid, Kobus van Wyk & Kyle Lombard.
@meadows:
I wouldn’t worry about the future strength of either province (WP or Free State).
WP’s U19’s are terrible this year, yes. Their 2012 Craven Week side was also no good. But considering their current crop of U20’s, they’ll probably still be in with a very good shot at winning the U21 title next year. And their U19’s for next season look fantastic (would be a shock if they don’t win next years U19 title).
And the Cheetahs have been losing their best young players for ages. They don’t have that much to pick from… Grey College produces plenty but most of them go to Pretoria now! It won’t make much difference though as the Cheetahs only need to draw a couple of players every now and then, and they’ll still compete. They’ve been dealing with a lack of depth for yonks.
Interesting aspects to me are;
– OFS failed to make the playoffs in either U19 or U21
– More surprising is that WP failed in the U19s – I’m sure that is a first.
This tournament is a good indicator of future strength for these provinces/franchises.
I suspect that the semis will go with home ground advantage so I expect to see the top two sides in each age group contest the final. It wouldn’t be the first time though that 4 has beaten 1 away in the semis at this level.
Best of luck to the Sharks u19 and u21 teams – will be rooting for you guys!