ABSA u19 Currie Cup – Week 10 teams & results

There were a number of surprising results in the Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship this weekend, with the Xerox Golden Lions 28-8 defeat of DHL Western Province the most telling.The Cape side was top of the log all season, but defeats at Loftus Versfeld and Ellis Park has seen them drop to third.

The Toyota Free State has moved into second spot after beating the Cell C Sharks 22-18 in Bloemfontein, while on Friday, the EP Kings had romped home 42-7 against the Leopards.

A summary of the weekend’s matches follow below:

Xerox Golden Lions 28 (11), DHL Western Province 8 (0)

The Golden Lions delivered their best performance of the season by outplaying DHL Western Province, the team that was setting the pace all season. But after a defeat against the Vodacom Blue Bulls as well, the Cape side has now slipped to third on the log.

The Lions has been going through the motions for much of the season, but found their rhythm against on Saturday.

Three tries to one was a true reflection of their dominance. Their third, incidently, was scored by debutant Ruan Ackermann, son of senior Lions coach, Johann Ackermann.

Scorers:

Golden Lions (Under-19) 28 (11). Tries: Derik Bezuidenhout, Godfrey Ramaboea, Ruan Ackermann. Conversions: Shaun Reynolds (2). Penalties: Reynolds (3).
WP (Under-19) 8 (0). Try: Charlton Jonas. Penalty: Ernst Stapelberg.

Toyota Free State 22 (19), Cell C Sharks 18 (18).

It was a hard-fought win for the home side in Bloemfontein, but a deserved one that moved them into the second place on the log. There was not much difference between the two sides in the match, with the only score in the second half – a try by Free State winger Lorenzo Gordon – proving to be the decisive one in the match.

The Sharks is still fourth on the log, but has lost ground to EP Kings, who scored good win over Leopards.

Scorers:

Free State (Under-19) 22 (19). Tries: Albert Erasmus, Andre Swarts, Lorenzo Gordon. Conversions: Swarts (2). Penalty: Swarts.
Sharks (Under-19) 18 (18). Tries: Daniel du Preez, Willem du Toit. Conversion: Joshua Bragman. Penalties: Bragman (2).

EP Kings 42 (18), Leopards 7 (7)

The EP Kings continued their good form in this year’s competition by outplaying visiting Leopards in Port Elizabeth on Friday night. The home side scored five tries to one and was in control for most of the match. The Leopards scored in the opening five minutes of the match, but the Kings not only scored from the restart to draw level, they never surrendered the lead or allowed the Leopards to cross their line again.

SARU Rugby Academy member and EP fullback Malcolm Jaer had a great match, scoring two tries and kicking three penalties and two conversions for a personal tally of 23 points.

Scorers:

EP Kings (Under-19) 42 (18). Tries: CJ Velleman, Jean-Pierre Jamieson, Lindelwe Zungu, Malcolm Jaer. Conversions: Jaer (3), Garrick Mattheus. Penalties: Jaer (3).
Leopards (Under-19). Try: Gideon van der Merwe. Conversion: Stefan Coetzer.

In the B-Division of the competition a good 25-13 win for Valke over Boland saw them extend their lead at the top of the log to eight points. The Limpopo Blue Bulls also scored a good 39-28 win over Griffons in Polokwane, while Pumas outlasted Griquas 22-17 in Kimberley. SWD scored their first win of the competition, beating Border 60-5.

After six weeks of the competition the log looks like this:

Valke played six, won six – 28 log points
Limpopo BB played five, won four – 20 points
Boland played five won four – 19 points
Down Touch Griffons played five won three – 15 points
Steval Pumas played five won three – 14 points
SWD played five, won one – 7 points
GWK Griquas played five, won 0 – 3 points
Border played six, won 0 – 2 points