Kian Meadon scored 13 points to help the Western Province XV beat the Golden Lions 18-14 at the U18 Craven Week in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. DYLAN JACK reports.
In one of the results of the tournament so far, the WP XV held out against a Lions’ onslaught in the second half to stun the Johannesburg side and claim a memorable victory.
The seeds of the win were sown in the first half, when flyhalf Kian Meadon scored a try, conversion, penalty and drop goal, to go with a try from Eben-ezer Tshimanga, to help his side to a surprise half-time lead.
However, the Lions did not do themselves any favours. They saw plenty of ball and territory in the second half, breaking first-time tackles at will at times, but just lacking the composure to land that critical final pass. Admittedly, the Province defence deserves plenty of credit as they scrambled well when it was needed and put in some big hits to stop the Lions’ momentum.
WP XV took just 40 seconds to score through Kian Meadon, who slotted a penalty to take them into a 10-0 lead. Meadon then slotted a drop goal to increase their lead to 13.
However, the Lions hit back when centre Joseph Iye broke the line and passed, on his inside, to flank Kamohelo Tlome, who stepped past a weak tackle to go in under the posts.
Henco van Wyk then ran a solid inside line to score from a five-metre scrum and put the Lions into the lead for the first time in the match.
The WP XV were not to be outdone as Meadon made a linebreak and popped the ball up to big wing Tshimanga, who bashed through a defender on his way to the tryline, allowing the Cape side to take an 18-14 lead at the break, which they held on to for the rest of the match.
Golden Lions – Try: Kamohelo Tlome, Henco van Wyk. Conversions: Declan Raubenheimer (2).
Western Province XV – Try: Kian Meadon, Eben-ezer Tshimanga. Conversion Meadon. Penalty: Meadon. Drop goal: Meadon.
Golden Lions – 15 Tiaan Botes, 14 Ngia Selengbe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Joseph Iye, 11 Munashe Caitezwi, 10 Declan Raubenheimer, 9 Franco Hallatt, 8 Izan Esterhuizen, 7 Zander du Toit, 6 Kamoghelo Tlome, 5 Connor van Buuren, 4 Justin Kalamer, 3 Sibusiso Shongwe, 2 Maxwell Motaung, 1 Tumi Mthembu.
Subs: 16 Tyler Skudder, 17 Kaelin Willis, 18 Munashe Mhere, 19 Khosi Nkomo, 20 Lifa Jambane, 21 Kabelo Mokhethi, 22 TJ Maguranyanga, 23 Hugo Monteiro.
Western Province XV – 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Eben-ezer Tshimanga, 13 Ethan James, 12 Stephan du Toit, 11 Javier Farmer, 10 Kian Meadon, 9 Chucky Ismail, 8 Heath Jacobs, 7 Jarod Cairns, 6 Stass Nel, 5 Marco van Rhyn, 4 Enos Ndiao, 3 Corne Weibach, 2 Liam Compion, 1 Johno Johnson.
Subs: 16 Keagan Blanckenberg, 17 Henko Smuts, 18 Phil Masango, 19 Louw Nel, 20 Jacques Mostert, 21 Issy Safodien, 22 Rethabile Louw, 23 Cade Croy.
Photo: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images
