Vodacom Western Province moved into the fourth place on the Currie Cup log by beating Wildeklawer Griquas 30 - 18 at Newlands on Friday night. The Cape Town -based team were the only team over the weekend to win their home game.

The Vodacom Blue Bulls did Vodacom WP a huge favour on Saturday evening when they beat the defending champions Vodacom Cheetahs 23-5 after leading 23 - 0 at halftime.

“The Bulls, despite their bright start, were unable to claim a four-try bonus point. Speedsters Bryan Habana and Marius Delport scored first-half tries for the visitors, but the rest of their points came via the boot of flyhalf Morne Steyn.

“Steyn, who recently recorded his 500th Absa Currie Cup point, added 13 points through two conversions and three penalties and is closing on Xerox Lions pivot Earl Rose as the leading points-scorer this season. Rose has scored 161 points this Absa Currie Cup season, with Steyn next best on 153.

Afterwards, Bulls captain Victor Matfield admitted: “We stood back and watched in the second half, but to be honest, the wind was a bit stronger than it seemed out there. It’s no excuse, however, and we need to use our chances better in our next match.”

The Bulls, chasing home ground advantage in the play-offs and a first outright Absa Currie Cup title since 2004, will travel to Kimberley next weekend to take on the Wildeklawer Griquas, whilst the Vodacom FS Cheetahs have a chance for redemption when they take on the Valke in Brakpan.

The Cheetahs, who topped the Absa Currie Cup log after beating the Xerox Lions on August 22, are now in danger of missing out on a semifinal place altogether, with Vodacom WP having taken over from them in fourth position. The Cheetahs have not won a match since that win over the Lions almost a month ago.”

Western Province racked up two tries within the first 30 minutes of their game, but they had to wait until the 67th minute for their fourth try when captain Jean de Villiers forced his way over under a heap of bodies, the Television Match Official eventually confirming that the try had, in fact, been scored.

“It might not have been impressive, but it was enough to put WP firmly into semifinal contention. The Capetonians travel to Wellington next weekend to face neighbours, the Boland Cavaliers, but their final league match, against the Xerox Lions, is still shaping up as a crucial game in terms of semifinal places.

The Lions claimed a similarly hard-fought win this past weekend, beating Boland 31-10 at a wet, and heavy underfoot, Boland Stadium.

Xerox Lions coach Eugene Eloff and his charges were expecting to play on a wet pitch all week long, but the popular Lions boss would have been a relieved man when loose forward Derick Minnie crashed over for the bonus-point clinching fourth try.

The Lions started well when wing Trompie Nontshinga nipped over in the second minute, but they had to wait a long time – until after the official full-time siren at Boland Stadium – for that valuable fourth try; a superb team effort from the Johannesburg-based side securing that bonus point.

“We were made to work hard for our tries – Boland played well,” said a relieved Lions skipper Cobus Grobbelaar. “We’ve still got a long to work on, but we’ll look at this match and work on the mistakes we made today.”

The table-topping Sharks were not to be outdone this weekend, however, as they cruised to a 44-19 win over the Valke at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park. The Durbanites – with plenty of support in the crowd, even though they were playing away – outscored their hosts by seven tries to three, despite resting a host of first-choice players.

Winger Waylon Murray scored twice for the Sharks, but Springbok utility back Ruan Pienaar – starting in the No.10 jersey – walked off with the official Absa Currie Cup Man of the Match Award after a busy afternoon.

“This award could’ve gone to anybody today,” admitted the typically-modest Pienaar afterwards, “it wasn’t pretty out there! We weren’t clinical enough, but we’ve got a tough week ahead of us – we’re expecting a big one in Johannesburg (against the Lions) next weekend.”

With just two weekends of regular league action remaining, before the semifinals on Saturday, October 11, the 2008 Absa Currie Cup is set for a thrilling finale as five teams battle it out for those final four places and, ultimately, eventual Absa Currie Cup glory.

Lions coach Eugene Eloff told www.sarugby.co.za this past week: “The Springboks have added a whole new flavour to the Absa Currie Cup – it’s great for everyone; the provinces and the fans and it’s creating a huge excitement amongst rugby followers.”

Top points-scorers:

161 – Earl Rose (Xerox Lions)
153 – Morné Steyn (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
90 – Chris Rossouw (Vodacom Free State Cheetahs)
84 – Conrad Barnard (Wildeklawer Griquas)
75 – Willem de Waal (Vodacom WP)

Top try-scorers:

7 – Jacques Botes (Sharks), MJ Mentz (Wildeklawer Griquas)
6 – Bjorn Basson (Wildeklawer Griquas), Keegan Daniel (Sharks), Andries Bekker (Vodacom Western Province), Doppies la Grange (Xerox Lions), Michael Killian (Xerox Lions), John Mametsa (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
5 – Waylon Murray (Sharks), Earl Rose (Xerox Lions), Jaco Pretorius (Xerox Lions), Tiger Mangweni (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Wynand Olivier (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Ernie Kruger (Valke).
4 – Marius Delport (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Wikus van Heerden (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Willie Wepener (Xerox Lions), Rayno Benjamin (Xerox Lions), Dewald Pretorius (Valke), Fabian Juries (Vodacom FS Cheetahs)
3 – John Daniels (Boland Cavaliers), Danwel Demas (Boland Cavaliers), Elgar Watts (Boland Cavaliers), Chris Jordaan (Sharks), Albert van den Berg (Sharks), Rouan Cloete (Valke), Johan Jackson (Valke), Akona Ndungane (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Pedrie Wannenburg (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Robert Ebersohn (Vodacom FS Cheetahs), Wilton Pietersen (Vodacom FS Cheetahs), Hendro Scholtz (Vodacom FS Cheetahs), Jean de Villiers (Vodacom WP), Tonderai Chavhanga (Vodacom WP), Wylie Human (Vodacom WP), Sarel Pretorius (Wildeklawer Griquas), Franco van der Merwe (Xerox Lions), Jano Vermaak (Xerox Lions), Jaco van Schalkwyk (Xerox Lions).”

” ” = sarugby.com