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October 28 - The MTN Golden Lions are on the march, of that there can be little doubt. In the hype surrounding Absa Currie Cup final, the fact that the Lions Under-19s have also advanced to the final of the Absa Under-19 competition on Saturday has to some extent been put on the back burner.
They will play the Blue Bulls at Coca Cola Park at 12.30pm in the first of two curtain-raisers, with the Blue Bulls playing the Sharks in the Under-21 semi at 3pm.
The Lions have had a terrific second round in the competition, improving tremendously from the first six matches and losing only a single match. That was against the Bulls. In the run-in to the final they also accounted for big guns Western Province (twice), the Sharks and the Free State. The Blue Bulls have lost two of their 12 league matches,
The Lions have become a team playing with confidence, with their biggest weakness probably a lapse of concentration at times during matches.
If they can overcome that, the star-studded Blue Bulls – who will start as favourites – can be beaten. The Lions have scored 55 tries in their 12 league matches which equals the Blue Bulls’ tally, and in a tight final it could all come down to the kicking clash between the Bulls’ Altonio Jantjies and Lions fullback Marais Schmidt.
The MTN Golden Lions team for the Absa Under-19 final is:
Marais Schmidt, Tiaan Putter, Jaco Viljoen, JP du Plessis, Errol Jaggers, Duncan Campbell, Vian van der Watt, Ruaan Lerm, Stephan de Wit, Stephan Nel, Ruan Botha, Ettienne Oosthuizen, Pieter Stemmet, Mark Pretorius (capt.), Henri Boshoff. Replacements: Rikus van Niekerk, Gideon Muller, Johan Rautenbach, Paul Willemse, Fabian Booysen, Ruan Barnard, Luqmaan Ismail.
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