What an exciting Currie Cup weekend it was once again! In Wellington Vodacom Western Province battled to a 23 - 7 victory over the Boland Kavaliers on poor field conditions and failed to gain their vital bonus point to stay in contention for the semi-finals.

“The pre-match withdrawal of captain Jean de Villiers with a stomach bug and the pressure on Western Province to score four tries, conspired to destabilise the Cape Town outfit and ultimately cost them the all-important bonus point.

Given the context of the game, Boland’s patience, spoiling tactics and superb defensive resiliency proved to be an effective concoction for the home team, with the Kavaliers already resigned to a bottom-two finish and the visitors chasing the defending champion Cheetahs to clinch a playoff berth.

A jittery Western Province failed to convert their try-scoring opportunities and saw several promising offensive manoeuvres into Boland territory fizzle out because of unforced errors.

WP scored three tries through centre Sireli Naqelevuki (2) (redeeming himself after dropping the ball on the score line earlier!) and number eight Luke Watson, while inside centre Morgan Newman slotted a conversion and flyhalf Peter Grant kicked a pair of penalties.

Winger Danwel Demas scored Boland’s only try and fullback Justin Peach converted.”

The Sharks ended the weekend at the top of the log by beating the Lions 34 - 20 in Johannesburg.

“The Sharks ran away with the game in the second half, scoring four tries to claim a bonus point and ensure they go into the final weekend of round-robin matches on top of the log, three points in front of the Blue Bulls.

It was an emphatic performance by the Natalians in the final 40 minutes, with two tries in two minutes by replacement prop Deon Carstens and flank Jean Deysel giving them an unassailable 24-13 lead with 14 minutes remaining.

Lions flyhalf Earl Rose had an awful game, succeeding with just one of his five kicks at goal and gifting the Sharks with their last two tries courtesy of aimless little chip kicks inside his own half.

Perhaps the key move of the game for the Sharks came when they retired indoors at halftime trailing 8-3. They had dominated possession in the first half, but were over-elaborate and too quick to throw the ball wide. A tremendous Lions defensive effort had them licked. They came out for the second half and almost immediately played a more patient game, pressurising the home side in their own half and allowing their marvellous forwards to create space out wide by running with the ball.

The Lions had opened the scoring in the 14th minute when wing Trompie Nontshinga scored in the left corner, which was a tremendous effort seeing as though he had two men to beat. Fullback Louis Ludik’s incursion into the backline had created a mismatch in numbers and he sent Nontshinga finning his way for the goal-line.

The Sharks fought back and both wing JP Pietersen and Deysel nearly scored, only to be denied by superb Lions defending. They did earn a penalty, however, which scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar missed.

Pienaar made an iffy start with his goalkicking, missing his first two attempts, but thereafter he kicked six out of six, including a 28th-minute penalty to put the Sharks on the scoreboard.

Rose kicked a penalty on halftime to extend the Lions’ lead to 8-3, but if he and his team thought everything was hunkydory, they were to be rudely surprised in the second half.

Just four minutes after the break, the powerful Deysel hacked his way down the right touchline, setting up a ruck just outside the 22. The ball was then sent out wide, where eighthman Ryan Kankowski was waiting. The tireless loose forward, whose every move was dangerous on a stellar day for the Springbok, cracked on the pace as he went on an angled run that ended with Pietersen coming inside him and finishing well.

The Lions regained the lead, though, on the hour with a top-class lineout move. A soaring leap by eighthman Ernst Joubert and a pass straight back down sent prop Heinke van der Merwe on a tremendous surge to the tryline. In the process, he ran over Sharks flyhalf Frederic Michalak, who had shown some neat touches but seemed disinterested in defence.

Michalak was almost immediately replaced, with scrumhalf Rory Kockott coming on and Pienaar shifting to flyhalf.

The Springbok showed his skills just five minutes later when he floated a long pass out wide to Kankowski and he tore down the left touchline, beating two tackles before passing inside to Carstens for the easiest try he will probably score.

The Lions were on a slippery slide into a valley of doom and gloom and Deysel killed them off for good two minutes later when he grasped Rose’s chip kick and stormed over from 40 metres to score.

Rose then messed up again two minutes later as he missed a penalty after the Sharks collapsed a five-metre scrum given after replacement wing Ryno Benjamin had been held up over the line by a tremendous tackle by Pietersen. Benjamin had chosen to cut inside instead of using a clear overlap.

Four minutes later, Rose tried another chip out of his own 22 that went straight to Pietersen, who grubbered twice and won the race to score, and he was substituted to boos straight after Pienaar’s conversion had put the Sharks 31-13 up.

Joubert forced himself over from close range as time ebbed away for the Lions, with Pienaar ending the match with a penalty.

The victory will certainly have them yelling down in Durban, where the Sharks host Griquas next weekend. They will be heavily favoured to take five points and finish on top of the log.

If the Lions lose next weekend to Western Province in Cape Town, they will probably finish fourth on the log, meaning a quick chance for revenge against the Sharks in Durban for the semi-finals.”

Source: sarugby.com