The South Section of the Vodacom Cup kicked off on Friday evening with a resounding victory for the SWD Eagles, while the Cell C Sharks XV and Steval Pumas got 50-pointers without conceding a point on Saturday.
Apart from these 3 matches, the 4 others played this weekend were much closer affairs.
On Friday, the Xerox Golden Lions remained unbeaten when they beat northern neighbours the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Johannesburg.
Saturday’s other matches saw wins for DHL Western Province in Caledon, where loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe scored 4 tries, GWK Griquas in Port Elizabeth and the Leopards XV in Lichtenburg.
Match reports:
Xerox Golden Lions 24 / 12 Vodacom Blue Bulls:
3 First half tries were enough to hand the Xerox Golden Lions a 24 / 12 victory (halftime 24 / 0) over the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Vodacom Cup clash at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Friday.
Golden Lions flyhalf Ashlon Davids opened the scoring in the opening minutes with a penalty goal but it would the home team’s superior skills at the breakdown that would win them the match.
Scorers:
Xerox Golden Lions:
- Tries: Lohan Jacobs (1), Anthony Volmink (1), Damian Engledoe (1)
- Conversions: Ashlon Davids (3)
- Penalties: Ashlon Davids (1)
Vodacom Blue Bulls:
- Tries: Kefentse Mahlo (2)
- Conversion: Kobus Marais (1)
SWD Eagles 33 / 17 Toyota Free State XV:
The SWD Eagles used their home advantage to beat the Toyota Free State XV 33 / 17 in the sides’ Vodacom Cup encounter at Outeniqua Park in George on Friday evening.
Free State started well in the game and put the 1st points on the board after some good pressure when flanker Peet Coetzee went over in the 8th minute.
The Eagles awoke from their slumber and big prop Ashley Buys burst over for his try in the 26th minute after some good pressure was applied by the hosts. Elric van Vuuren slotted the conversion and followed with a penalty shortly thereafter to make the halftime score 16 / 10 in favour of the Eagles.
Scorers:
SWD Eagles:
- Tries: Alshaun Bock (2), Ashley Buys (1)
- Conversions: Elric van Vuuren (3)
- Penalties: Elric van Vuuren (4)
Toyota Free State XV:
- Tries: Peet Coetzee (2)
- Conversions: Coenie van Wyk (1), Noel Marx (1)Penalties: Coenie van Wyk (1)
EP Kings 19 / 27 GWK Griquas:
GWK Griquas got the defence of their Vodacom Cup title off to 27 / 19 victory (halftime 10 / 12) over the EP Kings in a Vodacom Cup South Section rugby clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
In a match of 2 different halves, EP dominated the 1st to enjoy the narrow lead at the break while Griquas turned on the pressure in the 2nd to secure a well-deserved win in their opening fixture of this year’s campaign.
Scorers:
EP Kings:
- Tries: Thembalani Bholi (1), Kevin Luiters (1), Jaco Grobler (1)
- Conversions: Gary van Aswegen (1), Scott van Breda (1)
GWK Griquas:
- Tries: Carel Greeff (1), Steph Roberts (1), Abrie Griesel (1)
- Conversions: Gouws Prinsloo (3)
- Penalties: Gouws Prinsloo (2)
Cell C Sharks XV 53 / 0 Border Bulldogs:
Sizo Maseko and Stefan Ungerer both scored 2 tries apiece as the Cell C Sharks XV began their Vodacom Cup campaign with an emphatic 53 / 0 (18 / 0 Halftime) win against the Border Bulldogs in their South Section encounter at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
Jaco van Tonder, Khaya Majola and Alcino Izaacs also crossed the whitewash in a 7 try to 0 affair in cool, but humid conditions on the east coast.
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks XV:
- Tries: Sizo Maseko (2), Jaco van Tonder (1), Stefan Ungerer (2), Khaya Majola (1), Alcino Izaacs (1)
- Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (3), Lionel Cronje (3)
- Penalties: Fred Zeilinga (2)
Border Bulldogs:
- None
Steval Pumas 52 / 0 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls:
It was one-way traffic for the Steval Pumas in their Vodacom Cup game against the Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls as they won their 3rd consecutive match of the season by 52 / 0 in the Lilian Ngoyi stadium in Secunda on Saturday afternoon.
The Limpopo Blue Bulls had no answer to a Pumas team that attacked from the get go and produced a dominating performance in the first 40 minutes to make the halftime score 40 / 0 in their favour. The match was ended prematurely because of inclement weather.
Scorers:
Steval Pumas:
- Tries: Marnus Schoeman (2), Ruwellyn Isbell (2), Hennie Skorbinski (1), Francois du Toit (1), Lambert Groenewald (1), Sino Nyoka (1)
- Conversions: JC Roos (6)
Assupol Limpopo Blue Bull:
- None
Leopards XV 36 / 31 Hino Valke:
The Leopards XV have racked up their 2nd win in this year’s Vodacom Cup competition by beating the Hino Valke 36 / 31 at Lichtenburg High School in the North West on Saturday afternoon.
An excellent performance in the 1st half helped the hosts to their victory, the Leopards dominating 24 / 14 at halftime after producing some impressive rugby.
Scorers:
Leopards XV:
- Tries: Jaco Hayward (1), Juan Language (1), PJ Uys (1), Vlooi Dreyer (1), Percy Williams (1)
- Conversions: Kobus du Plessis (4)
- Penalties: Kobus du Plessis (1)
Hino Valke:
- Tries: Riaan Arends (3), Grant Janke (1)
- Conversions: Juan Kotze (4)
- Penalties: Juan Kotze (1)
Boland Cavaliers 10 / 25 DHL Western Province:
DHL Western Province No 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe scored 4 tries as his side beat the Boland Cavaliers by 25 / 10 (Halftime 15 / 7) on Saturday afternoon at the Caledon Sports Ground to start their 2015 Vodacom Cup campaign with a bonus-point victory.
The Cavaliers played with 9 graduates from the SARU Boland Academy in their match-day squad.
Notshe scored a brace within the first 10 minutes with flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis converting the 2nd effort. WP led 12 / 0 before captain and lock Gavin Annandale narrowed the gap with his effort and fullback Eric Zana added the extras.
Scorers:
Boland Cavaliers:
- Tries: Gavin Annandale (1)
- Conversions: Eric Zana (1)
- Penalties: Eric Zana (1)
DHL Western Province:
- Tries: Sikhumbuzo Notshe (4)
- Conversions: Jean-Luc du Plessis (1)
- Penalties: Jean-Luc du Plessis (1)