Kearsney College - 29 June, 2026: Jaco Els from Westville Boys' High School in action for the Sharks on Day 1 of the FNB U16 Grant Khomo Week. (Photographer: Gerhard Duraan/gdphoto)

The opening day of the U16 tournament served up a number of entertaining and high-scoring contests, with the Lions, Sharks XV, Pumas, Border, the Blue Bulls, Western Province, the Leopards, Free State, Iqhawe, the Limpopo Blue Bulls, and the Blue Bulls XV securing victories.

WP inside centre JP Immelman scored five tries in his team's 73-14 win against the Griffons, while Free State showed their mettle when they rebounded from a 15-point half-time deficit to beat South Western Districts 50-32.

The Blue Bulls thrashed Eastern Province 56-15, with No 8 Dylan Badenhorst-Schnetler scoring a hat-trick, while the Blue Bulls XV recorded the biggest win of the day when they put 100 points past Kenya, with lock Janru Botha scoring three of his team's 16 tries.

The battle between the Leopards and the Valke was decided at the death, after fullback Ryan Pheiffer kicked a conversion to give the team from Potchefstroom a 27-26 win.

In the final match of the day, the Golden Lions punished an ill-disciplined Sharks side to win 20-17. The game was in the balance at half-time, before the hosts conceded two yellow cards in quick succession. The Lions finished the game strongly, and flyhalf Cian Jonck scored 15 points.

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