The 2013 Women’s Interprovincial Series will go down to the wire in the final round of pool matches in two weeks as there are still two semifinal spots up for grabs in the ‘A Division’.
With one round of matches to go, only Border and the Sharks have cemented their places in the 'A Division' semifinal, while DHL Western Province, the Blue Bulls, Free State and Boland are all still in the running for the other two spots.
The 'B Division' remained equally competitive with the Limpopo Blue Bulls, Griquas and the Valke still in contention for spots in the final. With only five teams competing in the division, the top two teams automatically qualify for the final.
The Sharks completed their round-robin stages in style on Friday as they thumped the Free State 55-15 in Durban to complete their run with a full-house of points, while Western Province beat SWD 24-10 in Bridgton, and Eastern Province held on for a 17-12 victory against the Blue Bulls in Uitenhage.
Boland, meanwhile, outplayed the Golden Lions 36-10. This result dashed the Gauteng team's faint hopes of sneaking into the semifinal and handed Boland a lifeline with one game left. Boland, however, will have to win their last match with a bonus point and a big points difference, while the Free State have to suffer a defeat without a bonus point against the Lions for the Wellington side to sneak into the semifinals.
Defending champions Western Province staged a strong second-half fightback to secure their bonus-point 24-10 victory against SWD away from home.
This will certainly boost WP's confidence with one match to go, as it placed them ahead of Eastern Province – who have played all four of their matches – on points' difference. This, in turn, dashed the Eastern Cape team's semifinal aspirations.
WP, however, still have work to do in order earn a semifinal berth, as the Blue Bulls have a mathematical chance of finishing in the Top Four – despite trailing by four points.
In the 'B Division' the Limpopo Blue Bulls registered their second successive 50-point score as they outclassed the Valke, with the side running in eight tries in a stunning attacking display. With their set-piece functioning well and the players doing well to spot the gaps in the defence, it was one-way traffic for most of the match.
In contrast, the Leopards had to work hard for their 22-15 victory against the Pumas.
These results pushed the Limpopo Blue Bulls and Leopards to the top of the log with 11 points. However, the Valke are only three points back and also have a game in hand, meaning the finalists will only be determined in two weeks.
Women's Interprovincial results, Round Four:
'A' DIVISION:
Golden Lions 19 Boland 36
EP 17 Blue Bulls 12
SWD 10 Western Province 24
Sharks 55 Cheetahs 15
'B' DIVISION:
Limpopo Blue Bulls 55 Valke 12
Pumas 15 Leopards 22