It was a weekend of upsets in the 2014 Absa Currie Cup competition as the Xerox Golden Lions handed DHL Western Province their first defeat of the season.
The only predictable result was the Vodacom Blue Bulls’ 28-13 victory against the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth. But even in that match the Port Elizabeth side managed to deny the visitors a valuable bonus point.
Saturday’s matches were particularly thrilling as the Toyota Free State Cheetahs kicked a last-minute penalty to secure a 30-30 draw against the Cell C Sharks in Bloemfontein, whilst GWK Griquas took advantage of the Steval Pumas indiscipline to register a 31-27 victory in Kimberley and the Xerox Golden Lions defeated DHL Western Province 35-33 at Ellis Park.
EP Kings 13 (6) Vodacom Blue Bulls 28 (11)
The first quarter was hard-fought as both teams attacked with intent, but were shut out by the solid defence. The visitors’ defence, in particular, was put to the test as they were reduced to 14 men in the 12th minute after hooker Bongi Mbonambi was sent to the sin bin for diving into a ruck recklessly.
The Pretoria side’s efforts eventually paid off in the 24th minute as flyhalf Jacques Louis-Potgieter kicked a grubber, which William Small-Smith gathered to score for an 8-0 lead.
EP Kings fullback Scott van Breda, however, slotted over back-to-back penalties to reduce the gap to 8-6. But another shot at goal by Potgieter on the stroke of half-time pushed the visitors 11-6 ahead.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls picked up where they left off after the break as wing Bjorn Basson and captain Deon Stegmann scored valuable tries. This was supported by Potgieter’s third penalty.
Minutes later EP Kings lock David Bulbring received a yellow card for infringing at a ruck, but the visitors were dealt a blow of their own in the 69th minute as Stegmann received a red card for elbowing a Kings player against the head, which resulted in the team’s fourth try being cancelled.
Instead, the Kings managed to score their only try of the match after the final whistle to reduce the deficit to 28-13.
Scorers:
Vodacom Blue Bulls: Tries: William Small-Smith, Bjorn Basson, Deon Stegmann. Conversion: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (2). Penalties: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (3).
EP Kings: Try: Darron Nell. Conversion: Tobie Botes. Penalties: Scott van Breda (2).
Toyota Free State Cheetahs 30 (17) Cell C Sharks 30 (13)
The battle between the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Cell C Sharks was epic as the teams threw everything at one another for the full 80 minutes.
The Bloemfontein side managed to build up a narrow 17-13 half-time lead thanks to two fantastic tries by scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius and a penalty by flyhalf Willie du Plessis.
The Cell C Sharks, meanwhile, earned two first-half penalties by flyhalf Lionel Cronjé to add to a brilliant try by Sibusiso Sithole, who forced his way through a few defenders to touch down shortly before the break.
The second half was equally thrilling, as the Toyota Free State Cheetahs did well to string together impressive passages of play, while the Durban side staged a late comeback thanks to two tries in 12 minutes to take a three-point lead with two minutes left on the clock.
But a late penalty by Du Plessis denied the visitors a victory, and forced the teams to settle for a 30-30 draw.
Scorers:
Toyota Free State Cheetahs: Tries: Sarel Pretorius (2), Tienie Burger. Conversions: Willie du Plessis (3). Penalties: Willie du Plessis (3).
Cell C Sharks: Tries: Andre Esterhuizen, Lubabalo Mtembu, Sibusiso Sithole. Conversions: Lionel Cronjé (3). Penalties: Lionel Cronjé (3).
GWK Griquas 31 (19) Steval Pumas 27 (11)
The clash between GWK Griquas and the Steval Pumas was dominated by penalties, and GWK Griquas fullback Gouws Prinsloo took full advantage of this with his accurate boot as he slotted over eight penalties to guide his team to a 31-27 victory.
The victory marked their second successive win in the competition. GWK Griquas built up a 19-11 half-time lead thanks to four penalties by Prinsloo to add to a try by wing PJ Vermeulen, while the Steval Pumas scored only two penalties and try by scrumhalf Reynier van Rooyen in the first half.
The Pumas continued to infringe in the second half, which allowed Gouws to kick another four penalties which cancelled out the Steval Pumas second try and three penalties, and sealed the victory for the hosts.
Scorers:
GWK Griquas: Try: PJ Vermeulen. Conversion: Gouws Prinsloo. Penalties: Gouws Prinsloo (8).
Steval Pumas: Tries: JW Jonker, Reynier van Rooyen. Conversion: Justin van Staden. Penalties: Justin van Staden (4), JC Roos.
Xerox Golden Lions 35 (14) DHL Western Province 33 (13)
The Xerox Golden Lions continued their dominance at home against log-leaders DHL Western Province as they forced their way to a 35-33 bonus-point victory.
The victory for the Johannesburg team brought an end to the Cape side’s unbeaten run in the competition – and just their second defeat since October 2012 – and allowed the Xerox Golden Lions to hop back into second place on the log table.
The first half was tight as the hosts scored two tries to one by DHL Western Province, while the Cape side’s flyhalf Kurt Coleman kicked two penalty goals.
But a strong second-half showing by the home team allowed them to build up an encouraging 35-19 lead thanks to another three tries, which took their tally to the match to five.
The visitors, however, fought back strongly in the dying minutes as they scored two tries in the last four minutes to sneak within two points of the home team on the scoreboard. But it was a case of too little too late, resulting in them having to settle for their first defeat of the season.
Scorers:
Xerox Golden Lions: Tries: Schalk van der Merwe, Lionel Mapoe, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert, Armand van der Merwe. Conversions: Ruan Combrinck (5).
DHL Western Province: Tries: Juan de Jongh, Justin Geduld, Michael Rhodes. Conversions: Kurt Coleman, Cheslin Kolbe, Demetri Catrakilis. Penalties: Kurt Coleman (4).
