With six of the seven league rounds completed, the Blue Bulls remain the only unbeaten team in the Vodacom Cup competition with ten teams still vying for the eight quarter-final spots.
The Bulls duly beat the Welwitchias 58-34 in Namibia and are guaranteed first place even if they lose to lowly Griffons in Pretoria this coming weekend.
The Golden Lions, second on points differential from Griquas in the North section, need a single log point from their home match against the Welwitchias to make the play-offs – while the Leopards, after their 51-21 drubbing at the hands of defending champions Griquas are in trouble.
They have to beat the Pumas in Potchefstroom and deny them a bonus point – or score one themselves – to go through. Griquas scored seven tries to three after leading 22-7 at halftime against the Leopards.
In the South Section, Western Province’s 29-23 win over the SWD Eagles put them at the top of the pile – but they have to beat Free State at home to ensure they make it.
WP (22 log points) are followed by four sides on 19 points, separated only by points differential, who can still overtake them, although the chasers are likely to eliminate one another.
The Sharks XV (at home to the Pampas XV) and Boland Cavaliers (at home to Eastern Province) are all still in the run together with WP, the Free State and the Pampas XV.
The Lions, who had never beaten the Pumas at home, lost 18-22 in Secunda on Friday night with the Pumas’ Torsten van Jaarsveld scoring the only try.
The Lions were scoreless after leading 18-12 at the break on a wet ground that made expansive rugby difficult..
The Blue Bulls ran in nine tries to four in Windhoek in their 58-34 win over the Welwitchias and are bound to play a much tighter game now that the big matches loom.
Free State were beaten by the Pampas XV (36-24) in their match in Tygerberg in a match that kept the Argentineans in the hunt and relegated the Free Staters from the top of the log.
Boland Cavaliers overran the hapless Border in one of the three losses suffered by the three core Southern Kings franchises that now have only three wins from 18 matches in the competition between them. The score was 33-13 with five tries to one telling of the Boland dominance.
The Griffons came back late in the bottom of the log contest when they kept the Valke winless with a 36-24 win in Welkom, while the Sharks XV can probably thank the replacement of EP kicker Justin Peach ten minutes from time for their 27-25 win in Port Elizabeth.
Good for the Bulls. See the Lions are in second spot, but then if you look at the rest of the teams in the group, it does’nt count for much.