WP, EP and Boland flex muscles in u20 Women’s Week
Western Province, Eastern Province, and Boland showed their intent at Alberton Rugby Club on Monday with three commanding wins on the opening day of the 2026 U20 Women’s Week, while Griquas and the Limpopo Blue Bulls started their tier two campaign impressively as well.
EP outplayed the Blue Bulls 46-10, WP romped past Free State (79-0) and Boland proved too slick for Border (29-22), while tournament hosts, the Golden Lions started their campaign with a 10-0 win over KwaZulu-Natal.
The four Tier One matches delivered great rugby, but so did the three Tier Two clashes, where the Limpopo Blue Bulls’ 40-0 win over the Griffons dominated scoresheets, while Griquas outplayed the Valke 27-14 and the SWD Eagirls outlasted the Pumas 17-7 in the opening match of the day
The opening match was tightly contested and highly entertaining, with the SWD Eagirls finishing stronger in the second half to beat the Pumas by 17-7 after leading 12-7 at the break.
The team from Mpumalanga dominated the opening spell but failed to score, while SWD, after their stout defence in the first quarter of the match, pounced on their first opportunity with good interplay between forwards and backs resulting in Ashlin Manho crashing over for a converted try that handed them a 7-0 lead after 18 minutes.
A second try by Manho from a blindside move at a scrum extended that lead to 12-0, but the Pumas scored before the break with Megan Guambe outsprinting several defenders on the way to the tryline. She converted as well and at the break, it was still anyone’s game.
The second half started like the first, with some good play by Pumas, but SWD again weathered the storm and when mattered, hooker Marcell Cedrass crashed over from a couple of solid drives from the pack.
The Valke started strongest in their match against Griquas with some powerful interplay by their pack. It yielded points early as prop Dimpho Dibate crashed over and with the try converted, the Gautengers were up 7-0, but the Northern Cape team scored next with a fluent backline move resulting in Angel Jaars dotting down in the corner.
Both teams tried to force their game plans on each other. Griquas was not shy in using their potent backline, but from such an attack, they spilled the ball and Valke flyer, Neo Mokena, replied with a blistering run from 70m out to make it 14-5 at the break.
The second half was much more productive for Griquas. They scored shortly after the restart when lock Ntombikayise Mashaba crashed over and slowly took control of the match. Two more tries followed and when Jaars scored her second in the dying minutes of the match following a kick and chase, the result was secured.
The Limpopo Blue Bulls ran the Griffons ragged in the second half of their match at Alberton Stadium, scoring five tries in 30 minutes to secure a 40-0 win, with a hat-trick within 10 minutes by prop Karabo Rabekane the highlight of the game, followed closely by hooker Vanessa Gabadi, who also dotted down three times.
Limpopo may have dominated the match, but the Griffons had some good moments, although they lacked the cohesion to sustain their attacks and as the confidence grew from their defensive effort, things started to gel for the team from the north.
The Golden Lions started strongly against KwaZulu-Natal and scored in the opening minutes when fullback Catherine Stacey went over in the left corner, much to the delight of the home crowd.
The rest of the half was a hard-fought affair as good defence on both sides prevented any further points. Most of the match was played between the two 10m lines.
The second half delivered more of the same, but the momentum was swinging towards the team in black and white. They had more than enough parity in the contest but could just not put an attack together that could break down the opposing defence.
The hosts defended very well and a late try by lock Amber Howell sealed the deal for the Lions, whose pack knuckled down and earned the hard yards towards the KZN line.
Eastern Province scored a well-deserved 46-10 win over the Blue Bulls, with the seven tries to one romp a surprisingly one-way affair.
EP opened the scoring in the opening minute and never looked back, while the Bulls looked a far cry from the team that contested last year’s final.
Shanice Scholtz (wing) scored from the kickoff and she then combined very well with her fellow-speedster Lukhanye Lolo and fullback Micayle Hendricks, and 16 minutes in, Hendricks scored to extend the advantage. Julene Haas added a penalty goal to her two conversions and for a 17-0 lead.
A yellow card to EP for cynical play gave the Blue Bulls an opportunity and they opted for a penalty goal to get the scoreboard going six minutes before the break, but that didn’t help much as another counterattack by the EP back three opened up the Bulls and Scholtz scored her second, converted by Haas for a 24-3 lead at halftime.
EP then got off to a perfect start in the second half when Ywaydha de Vos ran onto a corner kick by Haas to score for a 29-3 lead. The Blue Bulls tried hard, but missed some opportunities before a yellow card to Scholtz gave them a sniff and Georgia-Lee Lewis darted through from a quick tap penalty to cut EP’s lead to 29-10.
But EP had the final say with their bench making an impact. Esona Sokani and Zusakhe Tembani added their names to the score sheet for an emphatic victory.
Some wonderful finishing by Boland’s backs helped them to a convincing 29-22 win over Border, with their ability on the counterattack proving vital in a match played at good tempo and pace.
Boland scored first when Jomare Hendricks was driven over the line by her pack, before wing Tereske Kabuika showed her lethal finishing ability to extend the lead from a wayward Border kick.
Few sides can score team tries like Border though and wing Sikiwe Likhanye was at the end of such a flowing move, but that try was quickly cancelled out by Boland, who worked wing Aisha Valentine over in the corner, also with a flowing backline play.
Border came back again with a try from a quick tap penalty and some straight running delivered the required outcomes, but again Boland responded in the required way as Valentine scored her second.
There was still some fight left in Border though and they scored again, with the converted try cutting the lead to 24-17, but once again Boland extended their lead when Hope Williams scored and although the Border pulled one back on the buzzer, it was a little too late.
The Western Province totally dominated Free State and delivered the slickest performance of the day, sending a clear signal to all comers that they are the defending champions and do not have any plans to be displaced.
The 79-0 scoreline might look harsh, but Free State really tried. The reality is that they were outclassed by a team who showed a wonderful synergy on attack, an ability to find space for some serious strike runners and a very solid defensive set that put opponents under pressure.
WP’s strike runners Davedine March, Emma Bester and Saadiqah Corbett were connected with wonderful timed and crisp passing from their inside backs, with flyhalf Nuha Levy feeding the machine with solid play.
It all started with a dominant WP pack that showed good patience and discipline, making sure their first job was done first before looking for glory themselves. The likes of Abigail Smit, Endinako Mbunje and Abby Koopman worked all afternoon to secure possession, tackled anything in orange and celebrated each try as if it was scored by themselves, knowing their role in the hard yards in the lead up.
Scorers:
Pumas 7 (7), SWD Eagirls 17 (12)
Pumas – Try: Megan Guambe. Conversion: Guambe.
SWD – Tries: Ashlin Manho (2), Marchelle Cedras. Conversion: Lukho Mpangeva.
Griquas 27 (5) Valke 14 (14)
Griquas – Tries: Siziphiwe Mnyani, Angel Jaars (2), Ntombikayise Mashaba, Inathi Majingo. Conversion: Hope Florence.
Valke – Tries: Dimpho Dibate, Neo Mokoena. Conversions: Lusanda Mngoma.
Limpopo Blue Bulls 40 (7), Griffons 0 (0)
Limpopo – Tries: Vanessa Gabadi (3), Karabo Rabekane (3), Conversions: Lehlogonolo Moseamedi (5).
Golden Lions 10 (5), KZN 0 (0)
Lions – Tries: Catherine Stacey, Amber Howell.
Eastern Province 46 (24), Blue Bulls 10 (3)
EP – Tries: Micayle Hendricks, Ywaydha de Vos, Shanice Scholtz (3), Esona Sokani, Zusakhe Tembani. Conversions: Julene Haas (4). Penalty Goal: Haas.
Bulls – Try: Georgia-lee Lewis. Conversion: Koketso Masilela. Penalty goal: Masilela.
Boland 29 (17), Border 22 (5)
Boland – Tries: Tereske Kabuika, Aisha Valentine (2), Jomare Hendricks, Hope Williams. Conversions: Faith Williams (2).
Border – Tries: Olwam Haka, Sinekhaya Tywaleni, Sikiwe Likhanye, Zanele Sikela. Conversion: Likhanye.
Western Province 79 (36), Free State 0 (0)
WP – Tries: Jada Davids, Mivuyo Pawuli, Yanelisa Plaatjie (2), Davedine March (3), Emma Bester (4), Anita Fazi, Kaylee Daniels. Conversions: Nuha Levy (7).
Round two fixtures (Wednesday, 29 April – all matches live on SA Rugby’s YouTube channel)
08h30: Griffons v Valke
09h40: Pumas v Free State
10h50: SWD v Griquas
12h00: Limpopo Blue Bulls v Bulls
13h10: KZN v Border
14h20: Eastern Province v Golden Lions
15h30: Boland v Western Province
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
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