Toyota Free State made better use of their opportunities as they beat the Cell C Sharks by 40-21 in their final pool match of the SA Rugby Under-21 Championship in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The Cheetah cubs led from start to finish and scored six tries to three for a well-deserved bonus point victory.

Both teams were full of running but also solid on defense, which led to nine tries in the match. While the Cell C Sharks’ forwards had the upper hand at times, they did not play with enough patience on attack and often turned the ball over in good positions on the field.

On the contrary, Toyota Free State showed more composure, used their opportunities better and hit gaps in the midfield on a few occasions with Shayne Bolton (centre) leading the charge.

The Free Staters started like a house on fire, making the most of their opportunities to score three converted tries in the first 12 minutes.

First Bolton rounded off in the fourth minute after a big midfield break from an attacking lineout move in the fourth minute.

Five minutes later the Free Staters perfectly executed a superb lineout move – with three close passes amongst the forwards – for Janus Venter (hooker) to go over untouched.

And a mere three minutes after that, with the Cell C Sharks pushing hard deep in Toyota Free State territory, the men in white made the most of a turnover to race away with Siyanda Cele (wing) scoring after some great handling by Bolton and his midfield partner, Conan Le Fleur.

Charles Williams converted all three tries as Toyota Free State took a well-deserved 21-0 lead.

At that stage it looked like there was only one team on the field, but the Cell C Sharks started playing with more composure and scored two tries of their own in the final 15 minutes of the first half.

Adam Mountfort (flank) went over from a lineout drive and that was followed by a well-worked try by Thaakir Abrahams (fullback), three minutes before the break, in the corner off the back of a monstrous scrum by the KwaZulu-Natalians.

With Murray Koster (flyhalf) adding both conversions from tricky angles, the teams went into the break with the Cheetah cubs holding a 21-14 lead.

The Free Staters started the second half like they did the first when Cohen Jasper (fullback) went over after a great backline move from a lineout that included a great break by Le Fleur from a lineout.

The Cell C Sharks could not shake their try-line jitters as they kept on turning over possession close to the Cheetahs’ tryline.

On the hour mark, Toyota Free State yet again took the gap – literally and figuratively – when Bolton broke the Sharks’ defensive line to put Juandre Sabbat (wing) over for his team’s fifth try and a commanding 33-14 lead.

Two minutes later, the Cell C Sharks were back on the attack in the Free Staters’ 22, and this time they held onto the ball with DJ Falconer (centre) running a great line to score. Koster added the extras to make it 33-21 with just over 15 minutes to go.

But the last say belonged to Toyota Free State when they yet again scored from a counter-attack that started in their own half. This time Le Fleur dotted down after Cele raced down the right touch line before giving the ball to his team-mate for a deserved try.

Scorers:

Toyota Free State U21 40 (21) – Tries: Shayne Bolton, Janus Venter, Siyanda Cele, Cohen Jasper, Juandre Sabbat, Conan Le Fleur. Conversions: Charles Williams (4), Franco Smith.

Cell C Sharks U21 21 (14) – Tries: Adam Mountfort, Thaakir Abrahams, DJ Falconer. Conversions: Murray Koster (3).

Issued by SA Rugby Communications