The 2010 Currie Cup kicked off to an exciting start after 26 tries were scored in the opening weekend of South Africa’s premier domestic rugby competition.

In Kimberley the GWK Griquas recorded an entertaining 40-34 victory over The Sharks on Saturday. The hosts ran in five tries to the four scored by their Durban opponents in this game which saw 74 points scored. Both teams played attacking, running rugby and regularly looked to shift the ball wide throughout the match.

Springbok winger Bjorn Basson added a brace of five-pointers while Wesley Wilkins, Ryno Barnes and Steph Roberts were the other try scorers for the hosts. GWK Griquas flyhalf Naas Olivier kicked three penalties and three conversions.

The Sharks boasted a 22-8 half time lead, but failed to press home that advantage. Flyhalf Steve Meyer, prop Pat Cilliers, flanker Michael Rhodes and winger Lwazi Mvovo all ran in five-pointers for the Durban franchise.

Scrumhalf Rory Kockott kicked two conversions and a penalty while replacement flyhalf Monty Dumond converted Cilliers’ try.

Western Province also enjoyed a victorious start to their Currie Cup season following their 25-11 away win over the Free State Cheetahs at Park on Saturday evening.

Man of the Match – WP flyhalf Willem de Waal kicked six penalties and converted his side’s only try which was scored by lock Adriaan Fondse to end the game with a personal points’ haul of 20.

Both sides were defensively strong in this match and as a result only two tries were scored. Fondse added Province’s five-pointer just before the half time break while scrumhalf Tewis de Bruyn dived in at the corner to score the hosts’ only try.

Free State Cheetahs flyhalf Louis Strydom who earned his 100th Currie Cup cap on Saturday kicked two penalties for the Bloemfontein side.

Meanwhile the Blue Bulls kicked off their 2010 Currie Cup title defence to the perfect start following their 38-15 victory over the Pumas at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening.

The defending champions added six tries and racked up their bonus point for scoring four tries within the first quarter of the game.

Winger John Mametsa scored two five-pointers while centres Stefan Watermeyer and Stefan Dippenaar, flanker Deon Stegmann and Dean Greyling all crossed the try line for the hosts in this Currie Premier Division opener.

The Blue Bulls pivot Jacques-Louis Potgieter converted three tries while substitute flyhalf Francois Brummer kicked one conversion.

The Pumas managed to score two tries against the reigning champions. Allistair Kettledas and Tian Meyer were the try scores for the Witbank outfit while former Western Province and SWD Eagles No 10 Ricardo Croy kicked one penalty and added a conversion.

While in Phokeng, the Xerox Lions achieved their first away victory in the 2010 competition by defeating the Platinum Leopards 43-13 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Friday night.

Scrumhalf Jano Vermaak scored two of the Johannesburg side’s five tries in this match which saw the visitors claim maximum points.

The other five-pointers were scored by former Blue Bulls centre Marius Delport, former The Sharks midfielder Waylon Murray, and SA Under-20 outside centre Jaco Taute, who donned the fullback jersey for the visitors.

Xerox Lions flyhalf kicked four penalties and converted three tries. Deon Scholtz and Wilhelm Koch scored tries for the Platinum Leopards while No 10 Cecil Dumond kicked one penalty for the hosts.

In the Under-21 Championships, Western Province defeated Free State by 42-40 in this game after coming back from a 27-17 half time deficit. Ten (10) tries were scored in this game, six by WP while four were added by the hosts.

The Sharks U21 side scored 16 tries and passed the 100-point mark as they comprehensively thumped Boland by 106-3.

Jaco Reinach scored four tries, Mark Richards added a hat trick of five-pointers while Meyer Swanepoel, Jacobus Otto and Xolane Mnisi all added braces of their own. The other Sharks try scorers were Willem du Plessis, Rosko Specman and Lambert Groenewald.

The Leopard U21s, thanks to the efforts of Joubert Engelbrecht (2), Tiaan Dorfling and Louis Fouche ran in four tries to defeat the Xerox Lions 36-16.

In the Currie Cup Under-19, there were victories for the Blue Bulls Western Province and the Lions this weekend.

The Blue Bulls convincingly defeated the Griffons 71-5, Western Province held their nerve to defeat Free State 31-27 while the Lions edged the Leopards 25-22 in Phokeng on Friday afternoon.

With thanks to SARugby.