The Blue Bulls defeated Western Province 20-10 in the provincial U21 final at Newlands on Saturday.
The visitors scored two late tries to overturn a four-point deficit, after they had led for the majority of the match.
Two penalties from flyhalf Joshua Stander sandwiched by a penalty from WP's Robert du Preez, gave the Bulls a 6-3 lead at the break.
The Bulls thought they had increased their lead near the end of the half, but the final pass to outside centre Jesse Kriel went well forward.
Neither side was able to inject any pace into the match at the start of the second half and points were hard to come by.
Province eventually hit the front when Du Preez finished off a counter-attack which started back in their own half. The flyhalf converted his own try to give his side a four-point lead.
Province looked to pin the Bulls back inside their own 22 at every opportunity, but when the Bulls managed to gain good field position, they made it count. Province won a turnover on the 5m line, but instead of clearing, they tried to run it out of the danger zone. Kriel intercepted a dubious pass by Justin Geduld and Bulls captain Ruan Steenkamp scored after a strong leg drive.
With five minutes remaining and the game still in the balance, Kriel put the result beyond doubt with a similar try to that of Steenkamp. Kriel beat two defenders, before stretching to place over the line and Kobus Marais kicked the conversion.
Western Province – Try: Robert du Preez. Conversion: Du Preez. Penalty: Du Preez.
Blue Bulls – Tries: Ruan Steenkamp, Jesse Kriel. Conversions: Kobus Marais (2). Penalties: Joshua Stander (2).
Western Province – 15 Justin Geduld, 14 EW Villjoen, 13 Johnny Kotzé, 12 Kyle Lombard, 11 JP Lewis, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jean Nel, 8 Carel du Preez, 7 Justin Benn, 6 Eital Bredenkamp (c), 5 Jan Uys, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Deacon Chowles, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 John-Hubert Meyer.
Subs: 16 Michael Kennedy, 17 Niel Oelofse, 18 Jade Kriel, 19 Tawipa Tsomondo, 20 SP Ferreira, 21 Lihleli Xoli, 22 Huw Jones.
Blue Bulls – 15 Duncan Matthews, 14 Kefentse Mahlo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Joshua Stander, 9 Carlo Engelbrecht, 8 Jannes Kirsten, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Ruan Steenkamp (c), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 Jan Enslin, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Arno van Wyk, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 19 Roelof Smit, 20 Marquit September, 21 Kobus Marais, 22 Dan Kriel.
Photo: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images
