An early three-try burst set up the Bulls’ SA Rugby U20 Cup final win against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
It was a triumph for dogged defence and keen attack as the Bulls scored six tries in sweltering conditions.
At one point they raced into a 26-5 lead, but the Lions, feeding off a powerful scrum, drew as close as 29-26.
The Bulls weren’t quite able to shake them off as they mounted surge upon surge with the match always in the balance.
It was impressive captain Kebotile Maake who set the example for the home side, rampaging through for two tries and proving an all-round nuisance with his in-your-face running and tackling style.
The Lions, meanwhile, had prolific hooker Mahle Sithole to thank for keeping them in the hunt. He was a menace in the tight-loose and near impossible to stop as his hat-trick of scores confirmed.
The Bulls had to largely play second fiddle in the scrums, forcing early changes up front, but they hung in manfully and kept their heads against their local rivals.
Every time when it seemed as if the Lions might be swamped, they roared back, chiefly through their powerful maul, which caused the hosts all sorts of problems.
Thankfully, flyhalf Ruben Pienaar was on song. He added to his season count of 41 conversions with five more and weighed in with a drop goal for good measure to end as the table-topping point-scorer (108).
Having come through the U20 Cup with 10 wins in their 11 fixtures, the Bulls may feel they deserved to win, but the Lions made them fight all the way, ensuring the sweetest victory of all.
BULLS U20 – Tries: Migael Turner, Riwan van Aswegen (2), Kebotile Maake, Hendré Schoeman, Ethan van Dyk. Conversions: Ruben Pienaar (5). Drop goal: Pienaar.
LIONS U20 – Tries: Mahle Sithole (2), Luke Cannon, Lian Terblanche, Jaythen Orange, Marko Kok. Conversions: Rekkie Gerber (3), Alzeadon Felix (2).
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Bulls hold off Lions to take U20 title appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
An early three-try burst set up the Bulls’ SA Rugby U20 Cup final win against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
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