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Blue Bulls secure epic victory over Sharks during Grant Khomo Week

By Willem Louw , in Rugby | News , at 2023-06-26 Tags:

PHOTO: SA Rugby/Gallo Images

The Blue Bulls pulled off an epic victory in the dying moments of their game against the Sharks on the first day of the Grant Khomo Week at Boland Landbou.

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Just like their u18 counterparts did over the weekend at the Noordvaal Bondedag, the u16 Bulls proved too strong for the Sharks as they emerged victorious 31-27 after it seemed like the Sharks had stolen it with a late penalty conversion.

The Sharks started strong, and two early tries by their exciting fullback from Westville Boys’ High, Zekethelo Siyaya and another by his centre from Hilton College, Khazimla Makali, saw the team from KZN take a 19-0 lead early on.

The boys from Pretoria managed to regroup though, and they began building their counter-offensive with a try by Albert Smit (flanker) and a late penalty conversion by their general in the midfield, their flyhalf, Ruben Groenewald took the Bulls into the break with a nine-point deficit.

The second half proved equally tense, with both teams pouncing on any mistakes by the opposition.

Groenewald maintained a perfect kicking record in extremely tough conditions, which has proven to be a problem for many of the kickers so far with strong gusts blowing across the field.  He converted all four of his team’s tries and a penalty.

The big flyhalf from Affies contributed 11 points off the tee for the Bulls.

Stefan Macdonald, the number eight loose forward who has also been selected out of the Affies camp charged down a clearance kick by the Sharks on their own line and managed to dive on the ball for a try to bring the scores equal at 24-all with less than 10 minutes left in the match.

With nothing to separate the two teams and almost no time left on the clock, it seemed like the Sharks might have an opportunity to steal the victory when Stefan Moolman, who had come on as a replacement in the backline, converted a penalty to give them the advantage.

It’s not over until the whistle blows though, and the Bulls were on the attack again from the kickoff, never giving up.

Zirk Meyer, their lively little scrumhalf who seemed to be involved with every attacking play by the Bulls, was rewarded for his work throughout the match when he scored the winning try, in the final moments, to secure a strong statement victory for his side.

The Pumas and the Griquas set the tone early on in the first match of the day.

There was nothing to separate the two sides at the end of the first half, and they went into the break, all square, 10-all.

The Pumas started the second half well, showing their intent when their flyhalf, Matthew Abbey, scored a try early in the second half that would prove to be foreboding for the rest of the game.

Abbey stood out for the Pumas, especially in the second half. He directed his backline excellently and kept the Griquas pinned back with his massive kicks.

The flyhalf from Middelburg was industrious on the attack and lead his team by example.

For the Griquas, Clinton Britz, the centre from Diamantveld showed a lot of promise. The lightfooted speedster seemed to beat at least one defender every time he got hold of the ball, but the Pumas did well to contain the lively playmaker.

In the match between the Lions and the Falcons, it was the Clinton Agu show. The hooker from Marais Viljoen was in a league of his own and managed to score a hat-trick for the Lions.

Though his team struggled to get past the Falcons in open play, Agu seemed unstoppable anywhere near the line.

Dihan Crause (winger) managed to score an impressive individual try, collecting the ball straight from their own kickoff and slicing through the Lions’ defence.

The Lions were simply too powerful and began their campaign on a positive note with a 39-7 victory.

Scorers:

Pumas 38 (10) – Tries: D’Angelo Roberts, Siyanda Dennison, Matthew Abbey, Hencoe Janse van Rensburg, Divan de Kock, Jacques Greyling. Conversions: Abbey (4). Griquas 10 (10) – Tries: Pieter Smit, Clinton Britz.

Lions 39 (10) – Tries: Clinton Agu (3), Eugene de Lange, Deveno Bernado, Jade Rollinson, Jeandre Uithaler. Conversions: Uithaler (2). Falcons 7 (0) – Try: Dihan Crause. Conversion: Doan Nel.

Blue Bulls 31 (10) – Tries: Albert Smit, Leskin Samuels, Zirk Meyer, Stefan McDonald. Conversions: Ruben Groenewald (4). Penalty: Groenewald. Sharks 27 (19) – Tries: Zekethelo Siyaya (2), Khazimla Makali, Josh Grant, Unknown. Conversions: Zander Vorster (2). Penalty: Stefan Moolman.

Eastern Province 26 (12) – Tries: Ross Atkinson, Matthew Harvey, Petrus Kleinhans, Gelden van Niekerk. Conversions: Travis Pheiffer (3). Border CD 14 (7) – Tries: Amoyile Thole, Azukiwe Magqaza. Conversion: Thole (2).

Namibia 12 (5) – Tries: Hanre Cocklin, Dirk Farmer. Conversion: William Beukes. Zimbabwe 10 (10) – Tries: Chima Nwadike, Hunter Falkenberg

Western Province XV 50 (26) – Tries: Tristan Joubert (2), Markus Muler (2), Leo Weber, Attie van der Lingen, Steph van der Merwe, Migael Turner. Coversions: Muller (5). Free State XV 3 (3) – Penalty: Jan Hendrik van der Linden.

Willem Louw
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.