The Cheetahs again had the Leopards‘ number when they ran in a convincing 60-17 victory over their North Western neighbours in their Currie Cup match in a wet Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Leopards started and finished with a bang, but the fireworks were delivered by a slick Cheetahs side who ran the Leopards ragged in difficult conditions.
Western Province secured a 2009 Currie Cup home semifinal berth in superb fashion with an emphatic 50-7 win over neighbours the Boland Kavaliers in the Absa Currie Cup derby at a sun-drenched Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly, the Boland side never at any stage looked like posing a threat to the vastly superior Province side, but they provided the ‘soft’ sort of opposition that was ideal preparation for the Newlands-based outfit ahead of the semifinal in a fortnight’s time. Province served notice at the outset that they were there to play open rugby, and conditions at Newlands were ideal. At the end of it all, Province matched the sizzling hot weather with seven well-taken tries, against one from Boland.
The Blue Bulls moved to third place on the Currie Cup log when they beat Griquas 61-27 at Loftus on Saturday, and with the win dented their opposition’s hopes of playing in the semifinals. The Blue Bulls ran in eight tries to Griquas’ four, and were in complete control from just after midway through the first half, with Griquas getting little possession. The reality, however, is that the Blue Bulls did not look like possible Currie Cup champions except in spurts, when they were really impressive.
The Sharks were stretched all the way but killed off a determined Lions team to reach the Currie Cup playoffs after a rusty display by narrowly beating them 19-17 in the Absa Stadium on Saturday.
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Potchefstroom’s main road through town on the way to Cape Town could aptly be renamed Luke Watson Drive after the Western Province captain set up his team’s 37-3 Currie Cup victory over the Leopards on Friday night. Watson scored two vital tries in the second half, tailing behind the Western Province drives, and set up a third in similar fashion for centre Juan de Jongh. Province scored five tries, three as a result of their forward drives and two by their quick backs Joe Pietersen and Gio Aplon, but the Leopards deserve much more credit than their single penalty goal might indicate.
Griquas came from behind in a hard-fought match on Saturday to beat the Lions 36-31 and keep their Currie Cup playoff hopes alive with flyhalf Naas Olivier contributing 26 points in a faultless display of goal kicking. It was a tough encounter on the hard field of Hoërskool Diamantveld where the match had to be moved because of the GWK Stadium being used for a soccer fixture. Although the commitment of the two sides cannot be faulted, too many handling mistakes and some poor options distracted from making it an outstanding match.
The Blue Bulls ran the Boland Kavaliers off their feet on Saturday, beating the home team 72-16 after leading 22-16 at halftime. The Bulls, who took total control in the second half, scored 10 tries to one and got their bonus point try in the 49th minute when replacement flanker Derick Kuun dotted down his first of three tries. With a well-deserved victory and an easy five points the Bulls are firmly in contention for a place in the play-offs. The Bulls scored 50 unanswered points in the last 40 minutes and destroyed the Boland defence.
The Sharks returned to the top of the Currie Cup log when they beat the Free State Cheetahs 24-13 in a fast-moving match in Durban on Saturday, also bringing an end to the Cheetahs’ six-match winning streak.
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Griquas kept their Currie Cup hopes alive with a five pointer at Wellington on Friday. The visitors from Kimberley beat the Boland Kavaliers 31-23 after leading 21-9 at halftime. The match was by no means a spectacle, but Griquas did enough to win more comfortably than the final score suggests. For the Kavaliers it was an improved effort, but still not good enough at this level. The Griquas pack was solid throughout with No 8 Jonathan Mokuena, flanker Rohan Kitshoff and lock Jacques Lombaard prominent.
The Lions stayed on course to reach the semi-finals of the Currie Cup with a solid 31-13 win over the Leopards at Coca-Cola Park on Friday night. The Lions scored five tries to one against a Leopards side which seemed strangely subdued before the break. The visitors were disappointing in the first half – especially considering their two good performances in trouncing the Boland Cavaliers and then losing 34-33 to Griquas last weekend.
The Free State Cheetahs rounded off a magnificent second-half fightback to run-out close-shave 33-31 victors over Western Province in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon. Just when it seemed the Cape Town visitors would sneak in with a 31-26 win, the Cheetahs were awarded a penalty try in the final minute of the match to level scores at 31-all. However, Cheetahs flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter added the conversion to secure a thrilling 33-31 victory in a match which was a brilliant advertisement for South African rugby.
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Danie Gerber’s son Dandré Gerber is set to make his Currie Cup debut for the Boland Cavaliers against the Griquas this Friday in Wellington.
He is one of two players the new Director of Coaching, Chester Williams, brought with him to Wellington from Western Province.
The other one is fullback Hayden Groepes, who will also make his Boland Currie Cup debut.
Gerber, of course, was a member of WP’s Under-21 squad earlier this year. Williams said he would not have brought Gerber to Boland if he was not convinced about his abilities and talent.
“Dandré looks likes his father, is a bit taller and has exactly the same brilliant footwork as his dad,” Williams said.
Gerber will partner PJ Vermeulen, who also hails from Western Province, in midfield. Vermeulen, like Gerber a Maties player, made his debut last weekend against the Sharks.
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The Sharks scored eight tries to nil as they thrashed a gallant Boland Cavaliers side 48-3 in a Currie Cup rugby
match in Wellington on Friday. The Sharks led 19-3 at halftime with flanker Jacques Botes going on to score a hat-trick of tries. Botes was all over the show and scored his second try after a lone sprint when he picked up a loose ball on his side’s own 25-metre line. The visitors, however, battled to get their rhythm back after the interval and could score only in the 59th minute via a try by scrumhalf Charl McLeod. The damwall then burst and the Sharks managed four more tries. Stefan Terblanche had an excellent game for the visitors and had a hand in most of their movements.
The GWK Griquas squeaked passed a game Leopards outfit 34-33 (half-time 13-19) in a thrilling match at Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Friday evening.
The Free State Cheetahs won their fifth consecutive Currie Cup match after starting the season with four losses when they beat a gutsy Golden Lions side 20-16 in Bloemfontein on Saturday. After an uninspiring but very, very tough first half, there was more life and expansion after halftime, and also plenty of excitement after the Lions had crept back to be within one score of winning the match. The lasting impression, however, is that neither of the two sides is likely to be a strong contender for the Currie Cup title.
Table-topping Western Province had a championship look about them in their 25-19 victory over the Blue Bulls in the North-South derby at Newlands on Saturday evening.
The victory was a fitting reward for Province who managed to overturn a 16-12 first-half deficit with a spirited second-half display to clinch another fine victory and avenge their first-round 30-22 defeat at Loftus.
Source + Pic: sarugby.com
An ill-disciplined Leopards side lost their seventh successive Currie Cup match against the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld and ended the match with only 12 players on the field after four yellow and two red cards were issued their players. The Blue Bulls scored six tries in their 44-11 win. The Leopards, who came into the game with a record of six yellow cards and a red in the season, had another six cards – one of which was a red for prop Barend van der Walt’s second yellow card offence. That gives them a total of 10 yellow cards and three reds in their seven matches to date.
The Springbok and Free State Cheetahs wing, Jongi Nokwe, ran in four tries on Saturday to record a comfortable 59-8 win over the Boland Cavaliers at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein. In the process Free State recorded their third win in the Currie Cup Premier Division. Nokwe also had a big hand in Hennie Daniller’s second try when he run down the left-hand touchline and chipped inside for Daniller who grabbed the ball with one hand for a spectacular try.
Despite enjoying the upper hand for most of the match, Western Province were made to sweat for their 25-20 victory against the Golden Lions in their match at Newlands on Saturday evening.
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The Cheetahs from Bloemfontein scored eleven tries in their 71-17 ABSA Currie Cup romp against the Leopards in Potchefstroom on Friday night to lay the ghosts of kicking rugby from the past few weeks to rest. The Cheetahs were 38-3 up at half-time but lost some momentum and the Leopards staged a mini-fight back by playing the second 40 minutes without a player marched off with a yellow card.
Western Province‘s Currie Cup aspirations are on track after an easy and well-deserved 38-7 win against the Boland Kavaliers in Wellington on Saturday. Province led 8-7 at halftime and secured a much-needed bonus point for their five try effort. The bonus point came in the 76th minute when prop Brok Harris barged over in the corner. But with the siren going, Province kept the ball in hand and a fine break by Sevens Springbok Gio Aplon saw young JJ Engelbrecht scoring the fifth and final try in the 81st minute.
The Sharks came away with a 30-19 away win against the Golden Lions on Saturday, thanks to their discipline, under immense pressure, in defence and the attacking blunders of the plucky Lions. It defies logic that the Lions, who dominated the first half, had more than their share of the second half and played some exciting, attacking rugby were 23-0 behind in the 70th minute – which is when they got their first points through a try by captain Cobus Grobbelaar.
The Blue Bulls snatched a last minute 25-24 win over Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday, ending the hosts’ five-match winning streak.
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Griquas won an absolute humdinger of a Currie Cup match with a thrilling 33-32 win over Western Province in Kimberley on Friday afternoon. In what was a see saw battle from start to finish, Province outscored the hosts by four tries to three but the log leading Griquas managed to keep their unbeaten record intact through brilliant cohesion and some heroics by fullback Riaan Viljoen. Province suffered a major blow before the match with news that flyhalf Willem de Waal was forced to withdraw due to a neck injury. As a result, Peter Grant shifted to flyhalf and Morgan Newman moved into the midfield. Newman’s spot on the bench was filled by Maties centre Paul Bosch.
The Lions stumbled past the Boland Cavaliers with an unconvincing 19-13 win in Wellington on Friday afternoon. Flyhalf Earl Rose kicked 14 points for the Lions with their sole try coming by the way of former Springbok wing Henno Mentz.
In a match of contrasting halves, the Cheetahs finally broke their duck with a 24-15 win over the Blue Bulls at Vodacom Park on Friday night. The Blue Bulls, who led 12-3 at the break, failed to capitalise on a man advantage in a second half in which they went to sleep. The fancied visitors managed a mere three points in the final forty whereas a resurgent Cheetahs outfit scored 22 points.
After a slow start, the Sharks kicked into overdrive and ran out 44-15 winners over a spirited Leopards side in Rustenburg on Friday night. Juan Martin Hernandez had a satisfactory debut, controlling the backline well and kicking 8 points before a dead leg cut his evening short. The Los Pumas pivot was replaced by Guy Cronjé at half time with the youngster also taking over the goal-kicking duties.
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Luke Watson scored a hat-trick of tries as Vodacom Western Province made it three wins out of four in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division with a 48-7 (halftime 15-0) victory over the Platinum Leopards at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday evening. The home side scored seven tries on their way to a five-point haul that took the Streeptruie into second place on the log. The newly promoted Leopards remain rooted to the bottom of the table following their fourth successive defeat.
A superb kicking performance from Rory Kockott saw the Sharks hand the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs a 21-12 (half-time 9-9) defeat at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Friday. Kockott succeeded with five penalties and a drop goal for a personal tally of 18 points while his kicking from out of hand was also impressive as the scrumhalf turned in a man of the match performance.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls cantered to a 50-18 (half-time 22-3) win over the Boland Cavaliers at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday.
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The Sharks overcame three yellow-cards to claim a scrappy 19-13 (half-time 9-3) win over the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Absa Currie Cup match at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Friday. On a chilly night in Durban the home side played 30 minutes of the match with only 14 players after lock Albert van den Berg, flank Jacques Botes and replacement hooker Skipper Badenhorst all spent time in the bin for a variety of offences. Despite handicapping themselves the Sharks handed the Bulls their first defeat of the season thanks to the Durban-based side’s sheer tenacity.
Western Province consigned the Free State Cheetahs to a third consecutive Absa Currie Cup defeat with a 19-13 (halftime 12-6) victory at Newlands on Friday. The home side dominated the encounter, pinching five Cheetahs lineouts and affecting more than half a dozen turnovers as they moved into the top four on the standings with a second win in three matches. Despite the early stage of the season Free State are already in danger of missing out on a semifinal place after a poor start to their campaign that has seen them previously lose to Griquas and the Golden Lions.
The log-leading GWK Griquas made it three out of three with an 80-7 (halftime 33-0) victory over the Boland Cavaliers in Kimberley on Saturday.
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