Three teams unbeaten in SA Rugby Under-20 Cup

The DHL Stormers Bolts delivered a commanding performance to defeat the Sharks GEN 40-24 in their SA Rugby U20 Cup clash at Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium last Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten along with the Fidelity ADT Lions and Vodacom Bulls U20s.

The Cape side outscored their Durban hosts by six tries to four and held a 26-5 half-time lead in this entertaining fixture.

The strong Stormers Bolts outfit had several Junior Bok U20 world title winners in their ranks and set the tone early, racing into a 19-point advantage at the break after Almero Keizer opened the scoring early on, with Rayaan Solomons adding the conversion.

Junior Bok loose forwards Gert Kemp and Quintin Potgieter crossed the line soon after, while Solomons not only scored a try himself but also kept the scoreboard ticking with his accurate boot. The Sharks managed a solitary first-half try through Pieter Bergh but struggled to contain the Stormers Bolts attacking flair.

After the break, the Sharks showed better resilience. Luan Williams and Luann Olivier both dotted down, with Iwan Jordaan converting twice to narrow the gap. However, the Stormers Bolts responded through Jayden Brits and replacement Tyrone Gombe, with Solomons maintaining his perfect record from the tee. Lizwe Mtetwa added a late try for the Sharks but it was not enough to threaten the visitors' lead.

Last weekend, the Lions and Bulls played and won their second round matches, with the men from Pretoria far too strong for the Leopards (73-29) at Loftus Versfeld, while the young Lions beat the Toyota Cheetahs U20s by 69-7 at the University of Johannesburg.

After two rounds, the Lions U20, Bulls U20 and Stormers Bolts are all unbeaten with a perfect haul of 10 log points. The Sharks GEN and Leopards U20 follow next on two points each, while the Toyota Cheetahs U20 have one point in the bag.

This coming Friday sees a full round of three league fixtures. The Lions host the Leopards at 1pm at Wits; the Bulls entertain the Stormers Bolts from 2.30pm at the Loftus B-field; and the Sharks GEN face the Free Staters at the Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg (4pm).

Meanwhile, the SA Rugby U21 Shield competition is set to kick off this weekend, with four games staged in the Northern and Southern sections.

Friday’s 3pm fixture between Eastern Province and SWD Eagles at the Otto du Plessis High School will set the weekend’s action in motion in the Southern Section.

That is followed by three matches on Saturday. The two Northern section meetings, between AVBOB Griquas and Harmony Griffons in Kimberley, and the Limpopo Blue Bulls and Valke in Groblersdal, will both kick off at 2pm.

Those two clashes are followed an hour later by the Southern section match in Mdantsane between Border and Sanlam Boland.