This past weekend saw Round 2 of the ABSA Currie Cup of 2014.

As usual 4 games were played, with the Cell C Sharks beating Steal Pumas 34 / 17, DHL Western Province demolishing the Vodacom Blue Bulls by 41 / 17, Xerox Goldenlions hammering EP Kings by 60 / 19 and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs beating GWK Griquas 34 / 27.

WP demolish Blue Bulls

DHL Western Province scored three tries either side of halftime as they demolished the Vodacom Blue Bulls 41-17 (halftime 19-6) in a scintillating Absa Currie Cup encounter at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.

Province ran in six tries through Pat Cilliers, Michael Rhodes, Nizaam Carr, Juan de Jongh and a brace from Seabelo Senatla while replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi nabbed one for the visitors.

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Despite their second-consecutive bonus-point victory, coach Allister Coetzee will be worried about the Yellow Card count that his side are racking up. WP picked up three Yellow Cards against the EP Kings last week and found themselves with another two sin-bins with Manuel Carizza and Kobus van Wyk spending time off the field for deliberate and cynical infringements.

The Bulls were not without their own troubles as JJ Engelbrecht and Grant Hattingh were both sin-binned for similar offences.

The Blue Bulls dominated possession in the first half but were met with a defence filled with passion and pride. Province hardly had any ball in hand in the first ten minutes but once they gained possession, they made it count.

The visitors were penalised for not releasing the player on their own 22m line and a quick tap from scrumhalf Nic Groom fed the speeding left wing Senatla who beat two defenders and dived over in style for the home sides’ first try of the afternoon.

Dimetri Catrakilis converted the try but Jacques Louis Potgieter reduced the deficit by three points just four minutes later as Carizza was penalised for being offside.

The penalty did not detract from WP’s attacking flair as they placed the Blue Bulls under pressure straight from the kick-off and were awarded a penalty. Catrakilis kicked for the corner and from the resulting lineout, Siya Kolisi was brought down just short of the line but Cilliers picked up and drove over the line for his first try in Province colours.

Catrakilis again converted to hand the hosts an 11-point lead but Potgieter struck back within minutes with his second penalty attempt as Province were penalised for illegal scrumming.

Carizza looked the part of a centre as the big lock drew in two defenders and timed is pass to perfection to No 8 Carr, who dived over the line for try No 3. Catrakilis missed the conversion with WP leading 19-6 at the break.

The visitors made a strong start to the second stanza with Potgieter landing two penalties within five minutes of the restart to bring the Blue Bulls within seven points of their hosts. Despite the Blue Bulls dominating possession and territory, Catrakilis was able to land his only penalty of the day to extend the lead to 10 points.

It was then that the discipline of both sides fell apart as the Blue Bulls looked to press home their advantage of territory and possession. WP were given a genral warning by referee Rasta Rasivhenge and it was Carizza that was first to go.

The lock knocked the ball out of Piet van Zyl’s hands as the scrumhalf tried to clear the base of the ruck. But such was the nature of the match that the hosts managed to turn the ball over, with Catrakilis kicking the ball down field. Engelbrecht was caught in possession on defence and once bundled out into touch, threw the ball away and found the wrath of Rasivhenge with a Yellow Card.

Province took a quick throw in and moved the ball down the backline to the left hand side of the field where Senatla sauntered over for his second try of the day. Catrakilis converted to hand WP a 17-point advantage.

The Blue Bulls pounded the hosts’ tryline with wave after wave of attacks but the WP defence held. The hosts won a penalty as the Blue Bulls did not release the ball on the ground and Catrakilis launched a cross-kick which Senatla chased, gathered and raced down the left-hand touchline. The winger fed inside to De Jongh who was brought down just short of the line, only for Hattingh to be sin binned for deliberately knocking the ball down.

Rhodes then drove for the line and after a TMO referral, the flanker was awarded the try with Catrakilis converting to give the men from Cape Town a 24-point cushion.

Once all the players had returned from their respective sin-bins, the Blue Bulls managed to cross the line through Mbonambi. After yet more sustained pressure from the Pretoria outfit, Mbonambi fed the line out short and received the ball back, raced down the touchline and went over in the corner for the Blue Bulls’ only try.

The game seemed to be petering out but then some brilliance from fullback Cheslin Kolbe set the stadium alight with some fancy footwork from the halfway line. Kolbe stepped in and out, beating several Blue Bulls players before offloading to his captain, De Jongh, with a no-look pass to send the inside centre over for WP’s sixth try on the stroke of fulltime.

Scorers:

Western Province:

• Tries: Seabelo Senatla (2), Pat Cilliers (1), Nizaam Carr (1), Michael Rhodes (1), Juan de Jongh (1)
• Conversions: Dimetri Catrakilis (4)
• Penalty: Dimetri Catrakilis (1)

Blue Bulls:

• Try: Bongi Mbonambi (1)
• Penalties: Jacques-Lopuis Potgieter (4)

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Kriel hat-trick leads Lions to victory

Jaco Kriel ran in a hat-trick of tries as the Xerox Golden Lions hammered the EP Kings 60-19 (halftime 25-7) in their Absa Currie Cup match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Flank Kriel turned in a barnstorming performance as he wrapped up his hat-trick in just 44 minutes with the hosts running in nine tries in total as they blew the Kings away.

EP had made a fast start to the match and they needed just two minutes to breach the Lions’ defence when right wing Ronnie Cook went over between the posts for a converted try after a 50-metre dash.

But the Lions struck back two minutes later when outside centre Stokkies Hanekom dotted down for a converted try.

Golden Lions flyhalf Jaco van der Walt, in for the injured Marnitz Boshoff who suffered a broken arm in the win over the Vodacom Blue Bulls a week ago, missed out on a chance to extend the lead in the 13th minute when he failed with a penalty kick attempt.

However, the Kings were rocked when flank Thembelani Bholi was Yellow Carded, in the 22nd minute, after repeated infringements at the breakdown from the visitors.

The hosts were quick to take advantage of their numerical advantage and they kicked to the corner and from the resultant penalty Kriel was mauled over for a try.

The Golden Lions were starting to take control of the contest and left wing Ruan Combrinck grabbed the third try, in the 29th minute, as the home team eased to a 17-7 lead.

Van der Walt added a penalty kick before the Lions wrapped up the bonus-point for scoring four tries when Kriel barged his way over in the 38th minute as the Golden Lions reached halftime with a commanding 18-point lead.

LIONS RUN RIOT IN SECOND HALF

The Golden Lions began the second half in a rush and Kriel grabbed his hat-trick just four minutes after the resumption of play.

The hosts were running rampant and flank Derick Minnie rumbled over in the 52nd minute for a converted try.

The Kings showed that they would not be complete pushovers and they managed to reduce the deficit to 39-12 when replacement eighthman Aidon Davis was mauled over for a try in the corner.

But the Golden Lions re-established their dominance as replacement lock Willie Britz and fullback Andries Coetzee ran in tries before EP fullback Scott van Breda scored a try and kicked the resulting conversion, in the 70th minute.

There was just enough time for Golden Lions replacement Albertus ‘Kwagga’ Smith, a former Springbok sevens player, to grab a debut try as the hosts cantered to victory.

Scorers:

Xerox Golden Lions:

• Tries: Stokkies Hanekom (1), Ruan Combrinck (1), Jaco Kriel (3), Derick Minnie (1), Willie Britz (1), Andries Coetzee (1), Albertus Smith (1)
• Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (6)
• Penalty: Jaco van der Walt (1)

EP Kings:

• Tries: Ronnie Cook (1), Aidon Davis (1), Scott van Breda (1)
• Conversions: Gary van Aswegan (1), Scott van Breda (1)

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Free State Cheetahs beat willing Griquas

The Toyota Free State Cheetahs bagged their first victory in this year’s Currie Cup competition by besting GWK Griquas by 34-27 in their encounter in the Free State stadium in the City of Roses on Saturday afternoon.

The Cheetahs lost to the Pumas in Mbombela last weekend, but rectified that mistake by beating a Griquas side that came up short against a bettter attacking outfit, specially in the second half.

Both sides started well, putting each other under good pressure with some impressive attacks early on. Griquas started to look the better of the sides when they got their first points as early as the 8th minute. Centre and captain Wayne Stevens scored the visitors first try of the afternoon and full back Nico Scheepers converted after the hosts couldn’t handle all the pressure.

The Cheetahs regathered and put together some useful phases of play, but none of them ending up in five pointers. Fly half Elgar Watts kicked a penalty in the 18th minute to reduce the deficit to just four points. Watts kept the hosts down in Griquas territory, but good defence by the visitors kept the Cheetahs at bay.

It was Watts that scored the first try for the hosts after some good pressure was applied by the home side. Watts jotted down in the 25th minute and also converted to put the Cheetahs ahead by three points. Scrum half Sarel Pretorius increased the hosts lead with his unconverted try to make the halftime score 15-7 in favour of the Cheetahs.

Griquas started the second half eager to make good for the mistakes they made in the first 40 minutes. The Cheetahs lost the majority of their props to injury, which resulted in uncontested scrums. They did make the most of this situation as winger Rayno Benjamin scored in the 47th minute and Watts converted to stretch the lead to 12 points for the Cheetahs.

Griquas got one back as flanker Marnus Schoeman scored shortly thereafter from a good driving maul, but replacement Marais Schmidt missed with the conversion to leave the deficit at seven points. The visitors were stuck with 14 men for ten minutes after Griquas prop Steph Roberts was yellow carded for an infringement at the driving maul.

The Cheetahs secured the victory in the 65th minute via a good try by winger Raymond Rhule. The latter rounded off after collecting a kick through and replacement fly half Willie du Plessis converted to give the hosts an unobtainable lead. Rhule scored his second of the afternoon before the end and Griquas prop Maks van Dyk also jotted down five minutes from fulltime, but it made no difference to the result.

Scorers:

Toyota Free State Cheetahs (15) 34:

• Tries: Elgar Watts (1), Sarel Pretorius (1), Rayno Benjamin (1), Raymond Rhule (2)
• Conversions: Elgar Watts (2), Willie du Plessis (1)
• Penalty: Elgar Watts (1)

GWK Griquas (10) 24:

• Tries: Wayne Stevens (1), Marnus Schoeman (1), Maks van Dyk (1), Ederies Arendse (1)
• Conversions: Nico Scheepers (1), Marais Schmidt (1)
• Penalty: Marais Schmidt (1)

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Cell C Sharks overcome gutsy Steval Pumas

Replacement Monde Hadebe dropped over the line for his team’s fourth try three minutes from time to secure the Cell C Sharks a full house of log points from their 34-17 win over the Steval Pumas in their second Absa Currie Cup match of the season at Growthpoint Kings Park on Friday night.

If that scoreline makes it look like a one-sided game, think again. It was nip and tuck until well beyond the hour mark, and the Sharks laboured long and hard with a surfeit of possession before finally breaking down the obstinate Pumas defensive system with a sequence of driving-maul tries in the second half.

Indeed, at the halfway point it was the visitors who led 7-6 after an uninspiring opening 40 minutes that produced a lot of dire rugby and not much congruity on attack from a Sharks team that tried hard to keep ball in hand but just couldn’t inject the required energy and continuity into their game.

The Pumas had enjoyed a dream start, driving the ball up into Sharks territory from where they peeled off an attacking lineout to secure a driving-maul try to lock Frikkie Spies in just the fourth minute of play.

The Sharks fought back through two penalties from flyhalf Fred Zeilinga, one of them from the halfway mark, but they just struggled to make any headway.

The halftime statistics reflected a big Sharks advantage in both territory and possession, with the Sharks making 28 tackles against the 57 of their opponents.

However it was the Pumas who ended the half on the attack, with Sharks fullback JP Marais, who turned in a strong performance, dropping back to secure the mark near his own tryline under pressure off the last play of the first period.

MAGNIFICENT BOTES

The sloppy first-half performance must have attracted sharp words from Sharks coach Brad Macleod-Henderson in the halftime huddle, for the hosts came out for the second half with renewed energy.

Their greater sense of purpose brought immediate dividends as the forwards surged up the middle of the field from the kick-off before the Sharks used the short side from a recycle to great effect as Marais was put in for the try.

The 42nd-minute try was the first time in the game that the Sharks went into the lead, but any immediate hopes of them taking control were dispelled when lock Marco Wentzel was yellow carded after an infringement that followed a team warning, with the Pumas taking full advantage of their advantage in numbers.

JC Roos had cut the deficit to three points with a penalty from almost in front, so when an impressive bullocking run down the right touchline from Pumas’ Nambian international loose-forward Renaldo Bothma saw a try awarded in the corner, the Pumas were back in the lead at 17-13.

The Pumas had momentum at that point and could have made it very difficult for the Sharks had they scored the extra points that they were threatening at that stage.

Jacques Botes was magnificent though in scavenging for ball on the ground and generally inspiring his teammates, and it was fitting that the most capped Currie Cup player of all time was the man to dot down as the Sharks surged over the line from an attacking lineout in the 58th minute.

Patrick Lambie had just come onto the field and his first touch was the conversion, which he slotted from the angle to make it 20-17 and the Sharks were never headed again in the match.

Skipper Tera Mtembu drew the Sharks further into the lead when he profited from a ruse by the Pumas to net a penalty as they stepped away when the Sharks threw in at a lineout near their tryline.

Earlier, the Sharks had been penalised when they drove the ball with no Pumas players engaged in the maul, but this time the Pumas never got away with it and referee Christie du Preez awarded the try that, with 11 minutes to go, gave the Sharks a sniff at a bonus point that had seemed highly unlikely at halftime.

Scorers:

Cell C Sharks:

• Tries: SP Marais (1), Jacques Botes (1), Tera Mtembu (1), Monde Hadebe (1)
• Conversions: Fred Zeiling (1), Patrick Lambie (3)
• Penalties: Fred Zeilinga (2)

Steval Pumas:

• Tries: Frikkie Spies (1), Renaldo Bothma (1)
• Conversions: Justin van Staden (1), JC Roos (1)
• Penalty: JC Roos (1)