The under 19 Sharks came to Loftus as definite underdogs and after comprehensively outplayed in the first half, came back strongly in the second half but ultimately ran out of time and ended up losing 32-24.
Things started off badly for the under 19 Sharks when centre Ruan Allerston missed a penalty in the first minute of the match. The younger Jantjies brother, Tony, got the u19 Blue Bulls on the scoreboard with a penalty before flying left wing Travis Ismaiel got his first of two tries for the u19 Blue Bulls. Ivan Ludick was yellow carded for the u19 Sharks and things went from bad to worse with the u19 Blue Bulls adding a further three tries to centre William Small-Smith, another for Ismaiel and flanker Stefan Willemse. The u19 Sharks could only reply with a penalty by SA schools wing Siyabonga Tom to leave the half time score at 29-3 to the u19 Blue Bulls.
Things were not looking good for the u19 Sharks at half time. They were given a bit of a reprieve when Hencus van Wyk was yellow carded not far into the second half. The u19 Sharks then started their putting their game together and showed a much improved performance they were rewarded in the 42nd minute when captain Alan Dell crashed over for his team’s first try. Tony Jantjies kicked another penalty for the u19 Blue Bulls before Van Wyk returned from the sin bin. The u19 Sharks were not done and kept up their fine second half performance and rewarded with a try to Ruan Allerston which was converted by Tom. The U19 Blue Bulls were then given their second yellow card with Willemse given his marching orders five minutes from half time. The u19 Sharks completed their scoring in the 68th minute (under 19 matches are only 70 minutes long) with lively scrumhalf Nicol Linde dotting down for the visiting team with Tom adding the extras. Their comeback was however halted by final whistle and who knows what might have happened if there were another ten minutes in this game.
But it was not to be and the u19 Sharks came away from this game with no log points. With this loss the under 19s are now in 6th place on the log (second last place) with only win to their name so far. The youngsters would certainly take heart from an improved second half performance and will look to build on that and finish the season strongly.
Blue Bulls under 19 32 (29) – Sharks under 19 24 (3)
Scoring summary:
Blue Bulls under 19:
Conversion Tony Jantjies 3
Penalty Tony Jantjies 2
Try Stefan Willemse 1
Travis Ismaiel 2
William Small-Smith 1
Sharks under 19:
Conversion Ruan Allerston 1
Siyabonga Tom 2
Penalty Siyabonga Tom 1
Try Alan Dell 1
Ruan Allerston 1
Nicol Linde 1
Good come back from 21 points down at the break..
We can only hope for a full 70minute performance next time..
The baby sharkies
need to win all their remaining matches if they want a home semi final.If i was the coach i would seriously consider bringing back paul the bush master 
jordaan..fred zeilinga they will maker a massive difference.
@Muzi (Comment 2) : He did
@war1 (Comment 4) : oops sorry my bad thanks for the match report.
It was nice to see guys like Siyabonga Tom and Robert Du Preez (he came on as a second half replacement) who are still at school performing for this Sharks team.
@Muzi (Comment 3) : That’s the thing, the Sharks best under 19 players are playing for the under 21s. Have you checked the logs though? Semi finals are looking very unlikely for this under 19 Sharks team.
War, how well can Tom kick? Did he miss a few on the weekend?
@war1 (Comment 6) : It looks like the du preez brothers want to wear the black and white jersey in the future none of them want to sign for any union i’d be happy if i was a sharky those 3 boys are very talented.
@Muzi (Comment 5) : My pleasure. Didn’t mention Van Rooyen in the report but his service was excellent. This Bulls under 19 team is good.
@war1 (Comment 7) : The 2012 sharks under 19s i believe will be very strong..add ungerer..du preez…number 8 john meyer…..Tyler Fisher..tom and a few more then you guys will have a powerful side next year.
@war1 (Comment 10) : We probably have the best depth out of all the other unions BUT like last year we always choke in the final or semi finals.
Thanks for the match report.
When I saw the half time score I thought that they were in for a hiding of note. Glad to see they pulled it back to some extent.
It seems as if they are slowly but surely getting things to gel.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 8) : I don’t think he missed one. I was worried about his kicking style when I saw him at Craven week, he seemed to stab the ball but it looks like he has been working on it.
Tom will not be entrusted with kicking duties for glenwood next year i believe a new flyhalf from eg jansen in Brakpan will take over the kicking duties.
@war1 (Comment 14) :
Thanx man.. It’s always interesting to see a non-flyhalf/centre kicking at poles..
@Muzi (Comment 3) : it’s out of Strudwick’s hands… Everitt has decided he wants Paul and Fred (and Pieter-Steph) with the u21s and his needs take precedence.
@robdylan (Comment 17) : I have an idea you know you guys are struggling with depth at centre well right now we will offer you guys bradley moolman..adri jacobs..dippernaar and watermeyer for Fred Zelinga how does that deal sound
With Serfontein..Swanepoel..Venter…Sadie and Small Smith we have tooo many contracted young centres.
@robdylan (Comment 17) :
It deos fast track those players though..
Id rather have a stronger U21 team, to be honest
@robdylan (Comment 17) : Its hurting your under 19 side dude.
@robdylan (Comment 17) : And Jafta, what a talent he is!
@Muzi (Comment 20) : Is the aim of the junior teams to win titles or develop players? In this case I think the Sharks are doing the latter.
@war1 (Comment 21) : Does that mean that he had a good game?
@war1 (Comment 22) : Thanks for the report war1.
Unfortunately for the coaches, its about doing well. If the Sharks end 6th, forget the fact that he was without the services of the 4 u21 boys + Hauptfleisch, Smit and Schwarz (all injured), I think Strudwick will be shown the exit door.
I’m surprised that Tom is the kicker. I’m pretty sure he’s missed more kicks than he’s got over this season.
@beet (Comment 25) : Allerston missed his first penalty and then Tom took over. I am pretty sure he got all of his kicks, obviously been working on his technique.
@war1 (Comment 26) : He’s a player who’s been able to correct weaknesses in his game, so it wouldn’t surprise me. Last year he couldn’t catch a highball, this year I don’t recall seeing him drop one.
@Muzi (Comment 3) : lol @ bush master
@Salmonoid (Comment 23) : Yeah, he played really well.