Blue Bulls sneaks past to Golden Lions into the u19 Championship final

By Hannes Nienaber , in Rugby | News , at 2019-09-27

In a bizarre turn of events, the Golden Lions got knocked out of the SA Rugby u19 Championship after drawing 27-all with the Blou Bulle in the final moments of their match at Emirates Airlane Park in Johannesburg.

The Blue Bulls’ prop Ethan Burger crashed over the try-line with less than a minute’s play left in their encounter on the final day of the northern regions matches in the City of Gold. The team of Pretoria’s flyhalf, Lionel April, slotted the conversion to draw the scores level.

The fact that the Blue Bulls scored four tries against the two of the Lions in the match secured them a place in the SA Rugby u19 Championship final. Most of the Lions’ points in the match came courtesy of the boot of flyhalf, Regardt Roets, who converted one of his side’s two tries and slotted five penalties.

The Blue Bulls will face the winner of the match tomorrow between the Sharks and Western Province in Paarl in the final. The date and venue of the final still need to be confirmed by SA Rugby.

The Lions boasted a positive point difference of 116 points in their three matches during the northern regions competition. The Bulls finished on a positive points difference of 108 points.

The Valke bagged their second victory on the final day by defeating the Leopards by 29-24 in a closely contested clash. The victors also had the lead by 14-12 at the break.

The Free State managed to finish the tournament on a high on Friday by thoroughly thrashing the Pumas by 112-3. The Free Staters shifted into a higher gear in the second half after already enjoying a more than comfortable lead of 42-0 at the break.

Replacement flyhalf, Eben van Niekerk, scored 22 of his side’s points as they put the Pumas to the sword in Johannesburg. Van Niekerk completed a brace of tries while also slotting six conversions for his personal points tally. Franco Smith who started as flyhalf also slotted six conversions.

Outside centre, Janco Klinck, scored a hat-trick of tries while Cohen Jasper (fullback), Aaron Larue, Siyanda Cele (both wings) and Juandré Sabbat (scrumhalf) all crossed the try-line twice as the Free Staters ran in 16 tries.

PHOTO: Frans Lombard/Actionpix

Scorers:

Blue Bulls 27 (10) – Tries: WJ Steenkamp, Siyasamkela Tyulu, Richard Kriel, Ethan Burger. Conversions: Lionel April (2). Penalty: April. Golden Lions 27 (19) – Tries: Morné Brandon, Banele Mthenjane. Conversion: Regardt Roets. Penalties: Roets (5).

Valke 29 (14) – Tries: Ethan Wentzel, Jenaldo Olivier, Werner Schoeman, Penalty Try. Conversions: PJ de Beer. Penalty: De Beer. Leopards 24 (12) – Tries: Aphelele Madaka, Henru Kotze, Meyer Kriel, Siyabonga Khoza. Conversions: Zinedine Robinson (2).

Free State 112 (42) – Tries: Janco Klinck (3), Cohen Jasper (2), Aaron Larue (2), Siyanda Cele (2), Juandré Sabbat (2), Eben van Niekerk (2), Jhaques Thyssen, Max Williamson, Goose Meyer. Conversions: Franco Smith (6), Van Niekerk (6), Williamson, Meyer, Sabbat. Pumas 3 (0) – Penalty: Timothy Townsend.

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Hannes Nienaber

Hannes Nienaber covered schools' rugby in South Africa for Volksblad, Beeld, and Rapport for 11 years. He also created the biggest school rugby website in South Africa - School of Rugby - back in 2007. It eventually morphed into Supersport Schools Plus. He still occasionally milks cows.

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