Absa Under-19 A-Division

The Golden Lions made it two from three as their Under-19s fought back to beat the Blue Bulls in the first final of the day by 20-19.

In the Absa U19 A-Division final, the Blue Bulls were well on their way to a win. They lead 6-3 at the break, which they extended to 13-3 early in the second half when Wiaan Liebenberg scored a try.

But the home team remained calm and chipped away at the Bulls’ lead. They ended up scoring three tries after the break for a narrow victory.

Scorers:

Golden Lions U19 – Tries: Errol Jagger, Tiaan Putter, Stephan Nel. Conversion: Marais Schmidt. Penalty: Schmidt.

Blue Bulls U19 – Try: Wiaan Liebenberg. Conversion: Tony Jantjies. Penalties: Jantjies (4).

Absa Under-21 A-Division

The Blue Bulls made up in the second final of the day when they beat the Sharks in a highly entertaining Absa Under-21 A-Division final by 46-30.

The Pretoria-based team scored six tries to the three of the Sharks as they dominated proceedings from the outset.

Three of the Bulls’ tries came in the first 25 minutes, with the SA Under-20 captains of the last two seasons, CJ Stander and Arno Botha, both crossing the Sharks’ tryline.

The KwaZulu-Natalians’ nippy scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, whose late father Jaco was a Springbok wing and a Springbok sprinter in the 1980s, scored two of his team’s tries. The Sharks U21s fought back well in the second half, but unfortunately their fullback Gouws Prinsloo had an off day with the boot and missed five of his 11 kicks at goal.

With less than five minutes left on the clock, the Blue Bulls were ahead by on36-30, but a late converted try by Dalton Davis and a second penalty goal by flyhalf Louis Fouché sealed the victory for the team from Pretoria.

Scorers:

Blue Bulls U21 – Tries: Juan Schoeman, Courtnall Skosan, Arno Botha, CJ Stander, Franco Mostert, Dalton Davis. Conversions: Louis Fouché (5). Penalties: Fouché (2).

Sharks U21 – Tries: Cobus Reinach (2), Francois Kleinhans. Conversions: Gouws Prinsloo (3). Penalties: Prinsloo (3).