Griquas took another giant leap towards regaining their place in the top echelon of the domestic game in South Africa.

The Kimberley-based outfit raced clear at the top of the standings in the Currie Cup qualifying competition, after beating the Griffons 43-24 in the Northwest Stadium in Welkom at the weekend.

Griquas ran in seven tries to accumulate the full five points and now find themselves six points above the second-placed Leopards, who had a bye this weekend.

In other Round Four matches at the weekend the Falcons beat the Border Bulldogs 54-40, while the SWD Eagles edged the Boland Cavaliers 21-17.

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All the weekend’s reports, scores and latest standings:

Griffons 24 / 43 Griquas

Griquas needed a bonus-point victory over the Griffons to keep their Currie Cup dreams alive and they did just that by beating the hosts 43-24 at the North West stadium in Welkom at the weekend.

Griquas led 24-7 at half-time.

The Peacock Blues ran in seven tries to claim the full five points and now lie six points ahead the second-placed Leopards, who had a bye this weekend.

On the day, it was Griquas’ attacking mindset that proved to be effective, with flank Carel Greeff scoring three times as the visitors gained valuable momentum from attacks.

The Griffons made the better start, however, with wing Norman Nelson running in for the hosts’ first try as early as the second minute.

Flyhalf Colin Herbert, son of the legendary Griffons’ flyhalf Eric, was successful with the conversion to give the Griffons a seven-point lead.

That sparked Griquas to life and they replied with four unanswered tries, two scored by Greeff.

Lock Jonathan Adendorf dotted down first for the visitors, followed by wing Ederies Arendse a few minutes later. Wing Nico Scheepers succeeded with a conversion before Greeff crossed for the first of two tries in the first half. Scheepers slotted another conversion to give Griquas a 24-7 lead at half-time.

The Griffons fought back in the second half, with fullback Tertius Maarman scoring within a minute of the kick-off. However, Greeff stepped up to the plate for Griquas, scoring an unconverted try before flyhalf Francois Brummer scored and converted his own try.

The last 20 minutes produced some entertaining rugby, with centre Japie Nel dotting down for the Purple People Eaters. Griquas’ centre Howard Mnisi replied with a five-pointer of his own.

Griffons’ prop Danie van der Merwe had the last say in the match, scoring a try two minutes from time, but it was too little too late for the Welkom-based side.

Scorers:

Griquas:

• Tries: Carel Greeff (3), Jonathan Adendorf (1), Ederies Arendse (1), Francois Brummer (1), Howard Mnisi (1)
• Cons: Nico Scheepers (2), Francois Brummer (2)

Griffons:

• Tries: Norman Nelson (1), Japie Nel (1), Tertius Maarman (1), Daniel van der Merwe (1)
• Cons: Colin Herbert (1), Pieter-Steyn de Wet (1)

Teams:

Griffons: 15 Tertius Maarman, 14 Cameron Jacobs, 13 Joubert Engelbrecht, 12 Japie Nel, 11 Norman Nelson, 10 Colin Herbert, 9 Oshwill Nortje, 8 Nicky Steyn (Captain), 7 Erik le Roux, 6 Frans Sisita, 5 Mlungisi Bali, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Daniel van der Merwe, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 PW Botha
Replacements: 16 Hannes Snyman, 17 Gerard Baard, 18 Jan Breedt, 19 Martin Sithole, 20 Boela Abrahams, 21 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 22 Vuyo Mbotho.

Griquas: 15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Ederies Arendse, 10 Francois Brummer (Captain), 9 Dustin Jinka, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Jaco Nepgen, 6 Carel Greeff, 5 Willem Serfontein, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Nicolaas Van Dyk, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 18 Stephan Greeff, 19 Marnus Schoeman, 20 Tian Meyer, 21 Wayne Stevens, 22 PJ Vermeulen.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge

Boland 17 / 21 SWD Eagles

A two-try burst by the SWD Eagles earned them a hard-fought 21-17 victory over hosts the Boland Cavaliers in Wellington at the weekend. The Cavaliers led 10-7 at the interval.

The Cavaliers were looking to record a second victory in the Currie Cup qualifiers after thumping Border 37-12 the previous Saturday, while the Eagles had been on the receiving end of a 52-34 hammering at the hands of the Falcons in George and needed to bounce back strongly.

The visitors were first to score when centre Daniel Roberts pounced on a loose pass and scored just 10 minutes into the match.

Flyhalf Karlo Aspeling added the conversion before Eric Zana opened the hosts’ account with a long-range penalty.

Burly prop Khwezi Mkhafu showed dexterity not normally associated with a front row forward and crossed for a try to put Boland into the lead. Zana edged the Cavaliers further ahead with another penalty, and they led 10-7 at the break.

Eagles’ coach Bevin Fortuin, however, must have been a happier man after half-time as his charges started to dominate proceedings.

Replacement scrumhalf Dwayne Kelly took the ball from a line-out near the halfway line and ran a superb line to the tryline. Fullback Elric van Vuuren, who had taken over the kicking duties, made no mistake with the conversion.

The visitors were ahead 14-10 and were looking dangerous with ball in hand.

Wing Brian Skosana rounded off a superb team try minutes later after some excellent interplay saw him break free, with hooker Kurt Haupt and centre Martin du Toit both featuring in this passage of play.

Van Vuuren slotted the conversion and the Eagles led 21-10 going into the final stages of the match.

The combination of a rash of substitutions by Boland and the yellow-carding of Haupt saw the hosts stage a late fightback. Zana went over after Albert Trytsman had manipulated the advantage of an extra man, and he converted his own try.

Scorers:

Boland Cavaliers:

• Tries: Khwezi Mkhafu (1), Eric Zana (1)
• Cons: Eric Zana (2)
• Pen: Eric Zana (1)

SWD Eagles:

• Tries: Daniel Roberts (1), Dwayne Kelly (1), Brian Skosana (1)
• Cons: Karlo Aspeling (1), Elric van Vuuren (2)

Teams:

Boland: 15 Eric Zana, 14 Earl Cassidy Lewis, 13 Richard Lawson, 12 Albert Trytsman, 11 Arno Fortuin, 10 Christian Rust, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Ryno Coetzee, 7 Gavin Annandale, 6 Franzel September (Captain), 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Hanno Kitshoff, 3 Martin Dreyer, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 Khwezi Mkhafu
Replacements: 16 Ashton Constant, 17 Francois Hanekom, 18 Yves Bashiya, 19 Jason-Collin Fraser, 20 Deroy Rhoode, 21 Christopher Bosch, 22 Nathaniel Manuel.

South Western Districts: 15 Elric van Vuuren, 14 Brian Skosana, 13 Daniel Roberts, 12 Martin du Toit, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Danie Faasen, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Alwyn Bester, 6 Shaun Raubenheimer, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Grant le Roux, 3 Dexter Fahey, 2 Kurt Haupt, 1 Roy Godfrey (Captain)
Replacements: 16 Wayne Khan, 17 Ashley Buys, 18 Lyndon Hartnick, 19 Christo Du Plessis, 20 Dwayne Kelly, 21 Gerrit Smith, 22 Anver Venter.

Referee: Jaco van Heerden

Falcons 54 / 40 Border Bulldogs

The Falcons turned in a superb second-half performance on their way to a 54-40 victory over the Border Bulldogs in their Currie Cup qualifier at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park at the weekend. The Border Bulldogs led 26-12 at half-time.

The home team were staring down the barrel as they found themselves trailing by 21 points soon after the start of the second half.

But building on the 21 points from fullback Juan Kotze, the Falcons scored 28 unanswered points to secure their second win of the season.

Border made a flying start to the game, with veteran lock Gareth Krause scoring an unconverted try in the seventh minute.

The Falcons struck back six minutes later when hooker Chris Richardson barrelled his way over, before Border flyhalf Thembani Mkokeli restored the visitors’ lead with the first of his two tries in the half.

Left wing Lindani Ndelela and Mkokeli, in first-half injury time, both scored converted tries as Border eased to a 26-12 lead at half-time.

Lock Wayne Lemley added to the lead with a try in the opening minute after the restart before the Falcons clawed their way back into the match.

Left wing Grant Jancke streaked over for a try three minutes into the half before tries from Kotze, scrumhalf Anrich Richter, flank Tobie Verwey, right wing Coert Cronje and replacement wing Etienne Taljaard secured the victory.

The Border Bulldogs added one more try to their total, with replacement pivot Oliver Zono grabbing a consolation try with six minutes left in the game.

Scorers:

Falcons:

• Tries: Richardson (1), Dumond (1), Jancke (1), Kotze (1), Richter (1), Verwey (1), Cronje (1), Taljaard (1)
• Cons: Kotze (7)

Border Bulldogs:

• Tries: Krause (1), Mkokeli (2), Ndelela (1), Lemley (1), Zono (1)
• Cons: Banda (5)

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen

Latest standings

(under headings team, played, won and points):

1. Griquas: 4 4 18
2. Leopards: 3 2 12
3. Falcons: 3 2 10
4. SWD: 4 2 10
5. Boland: 4 1 7
6. Griffons: 3 1 7
7. Border: 3 0 1