The South Africa ‘A’ side started the U18 International Series on a high note by beating Georgia in Cape Town on Monday.
Taking a 6-3 lead into the break thanks to two penalties from flyhalf Luan Giliomee, the SA U18 A side claimed a 20-3 victory at Stellenberg High School.
The first half was an even affair, with the Georgians showing plenty of determination on defence in response to several South African attacks.
The European team had the upper hand at the breakdown, slowing the ball enough, or spoiling it on several occasions, to blunt a number of promising SA attacks. The hosts showed plenty of enterprise with ball in hand, but try as they might, they just couldn’t bridge the stubborn Georgian defence.
Playing with a strong breeze in their favour in the second half, the SA ‘A’ side made the most of their opportunities to score two converted tries to take the game away from the gritty Georgians.
After a sustained period of pressure, SA fullback Dylan Miller went over to stretch their lead to 13-3.
With the generous breeze in their favour and the replacement forwards adding fresh aggression, the South Africans dominated the rest of the game, earning a few penalties at scrum time and going close to score on a number of occasions.
They eventually breached the Georgian line for a second time when replacement outside back Brooklyn Newman crossed over for another converted try to take the final score to 20-3.
Earlier in the day, Ireland kicked off the tournament with an impressive 42-28 win over England, this after the Irish led 21-7 at halftime.
The second round takes place at Paarl Gimnasium on Friday when Georgia and England meet in the first fixture at 1.30pm, followed by the clash between the SA U18s and Ireland at 3.30pm.
Scorers:
South Africa ‘A’ 20 (6) – Tries: Dylan Miller, Brooklyn Newman. Conversions: Luan Giliomee (2). Penalties: Giliomee (2).
Georgia 3 (3) – Penalty: Gigi Sirbiladze.
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post SA ‘A’ off to U18 series flyer appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
