3 Of the 4 Vodacom Cup semi-finalists are from the North Section after the Xerox Golden Lions, Vodacom Blue Bulls and Steval Pumas all won their quarter-final encounters this weekend.
The unbeaten DHL Western Province will be the South Section’s sole representative in the Top 4 next weekend after the Steval Pumas upset the defending champions, GWK Griquas, at GWK Park in Kimberley on Friday evening.
The visitors from the Lowveld won 28 / 14 and outscored the 5-time champions by 3 tries to 2 in a match that came alight in the 2nd half.
DHL Western Province, champions in 2012, beat the Leopards XV by 47 / 22 at City Park in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.
The Xerox Golden Lions were made to work extremely hard in their quarter-final against the SWD Eagles at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon, with the visitors from George scoring 3 tries to the 2013 champions’ 2, but in the end it wasn’t enough.
The 4th quarter-final was a rather 1-sided affair at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening, where the Vodacom Blue Bulls beat the Toyota Free State XV by 44 / 21, with William Small-Smith dotting down 3 times for the 3-time champions from Pretoria.
Vodacom Cup Semi-Finals:
- Xerox Golden Lions vs Steval Pumas – Johannesburg
- DHL Western Province vs Vodacom Blue Bulls – Cape Town
Vodacom Blue Bulls 44 / 21 Toyota Free State XV:
Vodacom Blue Bulls flyhalf Tian Schoeman scored 22 points and centre William Small-Smith added a hat-trick of tries to guide the men from Pretoria to a 44 / 21 victory over the Toyota Free State XV in their Vodacom Cup quarter-final at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday night.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls led 17 / 9 at halftime and set the tempo of the match from the opening exchanges, but it was the visitors from the Free State who scored 1st through a penalty goal by flyhalf Willie du Plessis.
The home team scored 2 tries in the 1st half and followed that up with 3 more after the break as they took control of the match to qualify for their 13th semi-final in the Vodacom Cup.
Scorers:
Vodacom Blue Bulls:
- Tries: Wiaan Liebenberg (1), William Small-Smith (3), Tian Schoeman (1)
- Conversions: Tian Schoeman (4), Kobus Marais (1)
- Penalties: Tian Schoeman (3)
Toyota Free State XV:
- Tries: Joubert Engelbrecht (1), Gerhard Olivier (1)
- Conversions: Niel Marais (1)
- Penalties: Willie du Plessis (3)
GWK Griquas 14 / 28 Steval Pumas:
The Steval Pumas booked their spot in the semi-finals of this year’s Vodacom Cup competition by beating the GWK Griquas 28 / 14 at GWK Park in Kimberley on Friday evening.
The hosts were rated as slight favourites for the game, but in the end it was the try scoring ability of the men from the Lowveld along with the kicking boot of flyhalf JC Roos that helped the visiting side from Nelspruit progress to the semis.
Steval Pumas coach MJ Mentz and his side will take much heart and confidence from their performance in Kimberley against the defending champions.
Scorers:
GWK Griquas:
- Tries: Wiseman Kamanga (1), AJ le Roux (1)
- Conversions: Dean Grant (2)
Steval Pumas:
- Tries: Bernado Botha (1), Jason-Colin Fraser (1), Johan Herbst (1)
- Conversions: JC Roos (2)
- Penalties: JC Roos (3)
Xerox Golden Lions 29 / 21 SWD Eagles:
The Xerox Golden Lions overturned a 14 / 10 halftime deficit to book a place in the semi-final of the Vodacom Cup, courtesy of a 29 / 21 victory over the visiting SWD Eagles at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts had raced into a 10 / 0 lead but despite being down to 14 men, the Eagles rallied and dotted down twice late in the 1st half to take an unexpected lead after 40 minutes.
The Xerox Golden Lions quickly overturned this deficit to lead by 20 / 14 after 47 minutes, but the Eagles came back once again and led 21 / 20 after a 2nd try by Kirsten Heyns.
But Marnitz Boshoff’s boot had the final say with 3 penalty goals in the final 25 minutes. The Xerox Golden Lions will have to sort out their scrum ahead of the semi-final meeting next week, but look a good bet to progress to the finals if they can continue their current form.
Scorers:
Xerox Golden Lions:
- Tries: Jacques Nel (1), Stokkies Hanekom (1)
- Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (2)
- Penalties: Marnitz Boshoff (4)
- Drop-Goal: Marnitz Boshoff (1)
SWD Eagles:
- Tries: Kirsten Heyns (2), Martin du Toit (1)
- Conversions: Elric van Vuuren (3)
DHL Western Province 47 / 22 Leopards XV:
Justin Benn grabbed a brace of tries as DHL Western Province advanced to the Vodacom Cup semi-finals courtesy of a 47 / 22 (halftime 21 / 19) win over the Leopards XV at City Park in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.
Flanker Benn scored a try in each half, with the home team running in 7 tries in total, as their strong performance after the break blew the gallant Leopards XV away. The Capetonians “won” the 2nd half by 26 / 3.
Amazingly enough it was the 1st time ever that DHL Western Province managed to beat the team from North West in a home Vodacom Cup match. The men in the blue and white hoops will host the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their semi-final.
Scorers:
DHL Western Province:
- Tries: Godlen Masimla (1), Justin Benn (2), Robert du Preez (1), Jaco Taute (1), Tapiwa Tsomondo (1), EW Viljoen (1)
- Conversions: Jean-Luc Du Plessis (6)
Leopards XV:
- Tries: Sergio Torrans (2), Rhyno Smith (1)
- Conversions: Adriaan Engelbrecht (2)
- Penalties: Adriaan Engelbrecht (1)
Vodacom Cup semifinals:
- Xerox Golden Lions vs Steval Pumas – Johannesburg
- DHL Western Province vs Vodacom Blue Bulls – Cape Town
Top scorers:
- 96 – JC Roos (Steval Pumas – 2 tries, 19 conversions, 16 penalties)
- 80 – Elric van Vuuren (SWD Eagles – 16 conversions, 16 penalties)
- 79 – Kobus Marais (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 2 tries, 21 conversions, 9 penalties)
- 64 – Jean-Luc du Plessis (DHL Western Province – 14 conversions, 12 penalties)
- 63 – Jaun Kotze (Hino Valke – 1 try, 23 conversions, 4 penalties)