South Africa’s premier Union Rugby competition, the ABSA Currie Cup is set to welcome a new team into their midst.

“The Leopards took a giant leap towards inclusion in South Africa’s top echelon when they edged the Falcons 29-24 in their First Round promotion/relegation match in Brakpan on Friday.

The Leopards, who will take a handy advantage into next week’s second leg, could join the ranks of big animals like the Sharks, Blue Bulls, Cheetahs and Lions - not to mention Western Province, Griquas and Boland Cavaliers - next year.

The Cavaliers have virtually secured their place in the Premier Division for another year with a runaway 54-15 win over the First Division champions, the Griffons, in Wellington earlier on Friday.

The second leg is in Welkom, but Griffons have several mountains to climb if they are to get promotion.

We look at the first leg of the promotion/relegation matches:

Falcons 24-29 Leopards

The Leopards, beaten in the First Division Final last week, have one foot in the big time after beating the Falcons in Brakpan on Friday. The visitors from Potchefstroom deservedly won the match after trailing 6-10 at half-time.

The Leopards took control of the match in the second half with, flyhalf Clayton Durand’s educated boot, dictating in the second stanza with a slight breeze and rain at his back.

The Falcons scored a valuable bonus point after the hooter sounded, when big prop Dewald Coetzee scored a try to narrow the gap between the two teams to five points before next Friday’s game in Potchefstroom.

All the Leopards have to do when they host the visitors at Olën Park is to win the game to guarantee participation in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup next year.

The game started with the two teams feeling each other out like two boxers and the Falcons scored the only try of the first half when veteran Nico Luus and hooker Jody Jeneker caught the Leopards asleep winning the ball in the front of the line-out and advanced to just short of the Leopards goalline, from where Falcons captain Hanno Coetzee crossed the line.

After the break Durand slotted another two penalties to take the Leopards into a 12-10 lead, before flank Jaco Bouwer intercepted a loose pass from a Falcons player to put some daylight between the two sides.

The Falcons eventually scored three tries to the two of the Leopards, but played tactically poorly against the wind and rain, putting themselves under unnecessary pressure.

The final nail in the coffin was a try by Leopards fullback Jan van Zyl, who raced away to score a vital try which took the Leopards 12 points ahead before Coetzee’s final act.

The scorers:

For the Falcons:
Tries: H Coetzee, Van Rooyen, D Coetzee
Cons: Perkins, Van Rooyen 2
Pen: Perkins

For the Leopards:
Tries: Bouwer, Van Zyl
Cons: Durand 2
Pens: Durand 5

Teams:

Falcons: 15 Jeff Perkins, 14 Dewald Pretorius, 13 Franco Booysen, 12 Alwyn Burger, 11 Poerie van Rooyen, 10 Hanno Coetzee (captain), 9 Gerrie Odendaal, 8 Thabo Mamojele, 7 Reg Muller, 6 Gert Lubbe, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Snoepie Coetzee, 2 Jody Jeneker, 1 Zane Killian.
Replacements: 16 Rayno Barnes, 17 Gavin Whittingham, 18 Wouter Moore, 19 Daan-Roux van Coller, 20 Freddie van Zyl, 21 Len Olivier, 22 Nicky Kritzinger.

Leopards: 15 Jan van Zyl, 14 Vuyo Zangqa, 13 Deon van Rensburg, 12 Japie Nel, 11 Colin Lloyd, 10 Clayton Durand, 9 Theo van Wyk, 8 Riaan Swanepoel (captain), 7 RW Kember, 6 Jaco Bouwer, 5 Draad Linde, 4 Antonie Gronum, 3 Dietlov Coetzee, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Divan Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 17 Nardus Lombard, 18 Ligtoring Landman, 19 Bennie Adams, 20 Michael Bondesio, 21 Basil de Doncker, 22 Anvor Schooney.

Referee: Willie Roos
Touch judges: Theuns Jonker, Peet Badenhorst

Boland Cavaliers 54-15 Griffons

The Boland Cavaliers made their intentions clear to stay in next year’s Currie Cup competition when they ran the Griffons off their feet in Wellington, winning 54-15 after leading 42-3 at half-time.

The Cavaliers, however, had a very disappointing second half.

They made several handling errors, lost strong man Janro van Niekerk in the 67th minute with what seemed to be a serious ankle injury.

Flank Angelo Brinkhuis was yellow carded five minutes later and lock Bradley Mockford stretchered off in the 75th minute when play was stopped for more than five minutes.

From the 10th minute on it was one-way traffic when Elgar Watts intercepted to score his first of four tries under the posts. Justin Peach converted (7-0).

Soon afterwards the Griffons were awarded a penalty which flyhalf Jandre Blom converted (7-3).

Then it was all Watts magic.

He scored his second try in the 24th minute after several players handled the ball. Peach added the extra points. (14-3)

Four minutes later left wing Danwel Demas scored after centre Piet van Zyl kicked ahead. Peach converted. (21-3)

In the 32nd minute Watts scored his third try after an impressive period by the Cavaliers. Peach again added the extra points. (28-3).

Four minutes later it was Watts again after splendid work by Zolani Mofu and Deon Scholtz. Peach converted. (35-3)

In the 38th minute it was Van Zyl’s turn to score under the posts for Peach to convert (42-3).

In the 45th minute the Griffons regained some pride when loosehead prop Sarel Louw broke through a line-out to score untouched. Blom succeeded with the conversion. (42-10).

In the 67th minute it was that man Watts again when he sent Scholtz away for the team’s seventh try. (47-10).

Three minutes from the end nippy Griffons centre Jaco Jackson slipped through for a try. (47-15)

In the dying seconds replacement scrumhalf Neil Papier set up a movement which was rounded off by replacement centre Lionel Cornelius. Watts added the conversion. (54-15)

Scorers:

For Boland:
Tries: Watts 4, Demas, Van Zyl, Scholtz, Cornelius
Cons: Peach 6, Watts

For Griffons:
Tries: Louw, Jackson
Con: Blom
Pen: Blom

Teams:

Boland: 15 Justin Peach, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 Piet van Zyl (captain), 12 Hein Myburgh, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 David Hendricks, 7 Josh Strauss, 6 Zolani Mofu, 5 Brad Mockford, 4 Nico Esterhuyse, 3 Kobie Adriaanse, 2 Pieter Wium, 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Clement Lewis, 17 Jean Botha, 18 Cecil Kemp, 19 Angelo Brinkhuis, 20 Neil Papier, 21 Lionel Cornelius, 22 Dewey Swartbooi.

Griffons: 15 Cecil Afrika, 14 Darryl Coeries, 13 Jacko Jackson, 12 Werner Griesel, 11 Howard Noble, 10 Jandré Blom, 9 Danny Theron, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Francois Uys, 6 Shaun Botha, 5 Ockie van Zyl, 4 Windpomp van Rooyen, 3 Jaco Louw, 2 Andries Kruger, 1 Sarel Louw (captain).
Replacements: 16 KleinJan Ferreira, 17 Gert Greyling, 18 Isak van der Westhuizen, 19 Jonothan Mokuena, 20 Nicky Steyn, 21 Hugo Kleynhans, 22 Shane Hancke.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Deon van Blommestein, Jerome America”

Source: rugby365.com

Pic: planet-rugby.com

Tags: Currie Cup, SA-Rugby