The Eastern Province Under-19s are still in the pound seat after picking up their eight consecutive win against the Lions at Emirates Airline Park this past Saturday.
With a comfortable six point buffer between them and their closest rivals the Blue Bulls, their success is not something that happened over night as their "dream season" started in 2013 when they won the Promotion to the A Division.
Eastern Province finished third after the regular season only managing four wins from seven matches. They qualified for the final after beating Boland 45 - 30 in the semi-final to face the unbeaten Falcons.
They won the B Division comfortably 56 - 40 to set themselves up for a Promotion match against Border, who finished at the bottom of the A Division. At the end of the eighty minutes only seven points seperated the teams as EP secured a place in the A Division with a 27 - 20 win.
They had a difficult first season, but avoided relegation as they finished sixth on the log twenty eight points behind the Blue Bulls who finished top of the log, only managing four wins from their twelve matches.
The 2015 season has been surreal for the u19s as they literally turned the table on their fellow competitors, with their defense being their strongest asset only slipping sixteen tries, six less then the Lions who are fourth on the log. Leopards have conceded the most, 45.
Eastern Province faces the Free State Cheetahs in their return match, after beating them in their opener in Bloemfontein, 28 - 15. Despite trailing 6 - 10 at the break they scored three second half tries through Dominik Uytenbogaardt, Junior Pokomela and Mabhutana Peter to record a 28 - 15 final score to get their campaign underway.
Eastern Province have scored 228 points from their eight matches and conceded 136. They have scored 24 tries, with Athi Mayinje and Junior Pokomela the top try scorers for EP on four tries each. Third highest points scorer, Jeremy Ward has scored three tries and two conversions to bring his total points tally to 19. Michael Brink is the top points scorer on 66 and second overall, with 1 try, 11 conversions and 13 penalties.
"The whole season we have been taking it one game at time and that has worked for us. We know we need to keep focusing on that, to stay humble and to keep on working hard because we still have a lot to do," said Eastern Province u19 captain, Jeremy Ward.
"We know what we can expect against the Free Staters and they will come out with all guns blazing," Ward said. "They had a very good game against Western Province, losing by just one point, so we will not be underestimating anyone."
The latest log (matches played):
U19: EP 36 (8), Blue Bulls 30 (8), WP 28 (8), Golden Lions 17 (7), Leopards 15 (8), Free State 13 (8), Sharks 6 (7).
With a comfortable six point buffer between them and their closest rivals the Blue Bulls, their success is not something that happened over night as their "dream season" started in 2013 when they won the Promotion to the A Division.
Eastern Province finished third after the regular season only managing four wins from seven matches. They qualified for the final after beating Boland 45 - 30 in the semi-final to face the unbeaten Falcons.
They won the B Division comfortably 56 - 40 to set themselves up for a Promotion match against Border, who finished at the bottom of the A Division. At the end of the eighty minutes only seven points seperated the teams as EP secured a place in the A Division with a 27 - 20 win.
They had a difficult first season, but avoided relegation as they finished sixth on the log twenty eight points behind the Blue Bulls who finished top of the log, only managing four wins from their twelve matches.
The 2015 season has been surreal for the u19s as they literally turned the table on their fellow competitors, with their defense being their strongest asset only slipping sixteen tries, six less then the Lions who are fourth on the log. Leopards have conceded the most, 45.
Eastern Province faces the Free State Cheetahs in their return match, after beating them in their opener in Bloemfontein, 28 - 15. Despite trailing 6 - 10 at the break they scored three second half tries through Dominik Uytenbogaardt, Junior Pokomela and Mabhutana Peter to record a 28 - 15 final score to get their campaign underway.
Eastern Province have scored 228 points from their eight matches and conceded 136. They have scored 24 tries, with Athi Mayinje and Junior Pokomela the top try scorers for EP on four tries each. Third highest points scorer, Jeremy Ward has scored three tries and two conversions to bring his total points tally to 19. Michael Brink is the top points scorer on 66 and second overall, with 1 try, 11 conversions and 13 penalties.
"The whole season we have been taking it one game at time and that has worked for us. We know we need to keep focusing on that, to stay humble and to keep on working hard because we still have a lot to do," said Eastern Province u19 captain, Jeremy Ward.
"We know what we can expect against the Free Staters and they will come out with all guns blazing," Ward said. "They had a very good game against Western Province, losing by just one point, so we will not be underestimating anyone."
The latest log (matches played):
U19: EP 36 (8), Blue Bulls 30 (8), WP 28 (8), Golden Lions 17 (7), Leopards 15 (8), Free State 13 (8), Sharks 6 (7).
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