The Cell C Sharks Under 20s will take a massive amount of confidence from their 61-30 victory over the Lions last week as they prepare to take on Toyota Free State in today’s SA Rugby Under 20 Championship clash in Bloemfontein.
After leading 21-20 at half-time against the top of the log, unbeaten Lions last week, the Cell C Sharks Under 20s showed their pedigree, blowing away their opponents by nine tries to three to score an emphatic victory.
Head coach Mike Vowles was thrilled with his team’s showing, admitting that it was only a matter of time before they made such a statement.
“After a really good performance in the Bulls game, I felt that we had turned a corner and we went into the Lions game with a lot of confidence,” Vowles explained.
“It was a game of two halves and we managed to weather the storm from a Lions’ pressure point of view, and then turned with the wind in the second half and that helped us. But we played really well, put them under a lot of pressure at the set-piece, stuck to the plan, moved the ball and played an exciting brand of rugby that saw us scoring nine tries, most of them through multi-phase attack.
“We were really happy with the way we performed and the energy the guys brought and felt afterwards that we had turned a corner and we want to build on the success and confidence we took out of that game.”
He added that preventing the Lions from earning a bonus points – they only scored three tries – was also credit to his team and the way they defended.”
“This week we have Free State which is a different prospect, playing away in Bloem is never easy so we certainly don’t take them lightly. But the focus really is on us and getting our systems right and playing our brand of rugby.
“We’d like to build on last week’s performance. We’ve spoken during the week about the difference between being a good side and a great one. Good sides have performances every now and then, great sides manage to build on each performance and get better and better.
“We want to keep performing, keep improving and keep enjoying ourselves and we’re hoping to end the season as a great side.”
Cell C Sharks Under 20s
1. Braam Reyneke
2. Jordan McLoughlin
3. Nash Mhere
4. Andrew Beyrooti
5. Corne Rahl (c)
6. Damon Royle
7. Enos Ndiao
8. Nick Hatton
9. Bradley Davids
10. Jean Smith
11. Siviwe Zondani
12. Brandon Wilkie
13. Lloyd Koster
14. Matthew Jacobs
Replacements
16. Jacques Marais
17. Dian Heunis
18. Phatu Ganyane
19. Coetzee Le Roux
20. Renzo du Plessis
21. Josh Miller
22. Ethan Hooker
23. Beanie Britz