It was a weekend of home wins in the Currie Cup Qualifiers as the Down Touch Griffons, ORC Griquas and the Leopards came out tops in their respective matches.

The Griffons pipped the SWD Eagles 25 / 21 in a nail-biting encounter at HT Pelatona Projects Stadium in Welkom, while Griquas defeated the Boland Cavaliers 48 / 17 at Griquas Park and the Leopards smashed the Hino Valke 53 / 7 at Profert Olen Park in Potchefstroom.

The Leopards’ victory marked their 2nd successive bonus-point win and earned them the status as the only unbeaten team in the competition after 2 Rounds.

The Potchefstroom team is now 4 points ahead of the Griquas at the top of the log table with 10 points.

Down Touch Griffons 25 / 21 SWD Eagles:

The clash between the Griffons and SWD Eagles was a tight tussle as the teams threw everything at each other from the outset.

The SWD Eagles has the 1st say with a try in the 7th minute as flank Janneman Stander crossed the chalk. But the 2014 First Division champions hit back with a penalty followed by a try in the 27th minute to take a 10 / 7 lead.

2 Tries by SWD wing Alshaun Bock in the 50th and 57th minutes, however, allowed them to take the lead, but this was cancelled out by the Griffons as Watts scored a converted try followed by another by Tertius Maarman in the 71st minute.

Franna du Toit added a 2nd penalty for the hosts on the stroke of full time to push them 4 points ahead on the scoreboard. The defeat for the SWD Eagles marked their 2nd in the tournament.

Scorers:

Down Touch Griffons:

• Tries: Elgar Watts (1), Nicky Steyn (1), Tertius Maarman (1)
• Conversions: Elgar Watts (2)
• Penalties: Elgar Watts (1), Franna du Toit (1)

SWD Eagles:

• Tries: Alshaun Bock (2), Janneman Stander (1)
• Conversions: Gerrit Smith (3)

Teams:

Down Touch Griffons: 15 Tertius Maarman, 14 Norman Nelson, 13 Dewald Pretorius, 12 Japie Nel, 11 Vuyo Mbotho, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Nicky Steyn (Captain), 7 Freddy Ngoza, 6 Erik le Roux, 5 Johan van der Hoogt, 4 Marco Kruger, 3 Rudi Britz, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 Gerard Baard
Replacements: 16 Khwezi Mkhafu, 17 Daniel van der Merwe, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 Martin Sithole, 20 Oshwill Nortje, 21 Franna du Toit, 22 Wynand Pienaar.

SWD Eagles: 15 Gerrit Smith, 14 Clinton Wagman, 13 Kirsten Heyns, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Leighton Eksteen, 8 Christo du Plessis (Captain), 7 Andisa Ntsila, 6 Janneman Stander, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Dean Hopp, 2 Marius Fourie, 1 Layle Delo
Replacements: 16 Wayne Khan, 17 Franco van der Merwe, 18 Alwyn Bester, 19 Buran Parks, 20 Dillin Snel, 21 Daniel Roberts, 22 Brian Skosana.

ORC Griquas 48 / 17 Boland Cavaliers:

The Griquas found their rhythm against the Boland Cavaliers after their Round 1 defeat, and secured an encouraging 48 / 17 bonus-point victory at home.

Griquas No 8 Carel Greeff was the star of the match as he ran in a fantastic 4 tries to push the hosts into a commanding lead. 3 Of his tries were scored in the 1st 28 minutes.

The home team was dominant on attack as their forwards laid a solid platform up-front, which the backs fed off, and they supported this with a solid defensive effort. This set them up for a 26 / 3 halftime lead.

They picked up where they left off in the 2nd half with prop Steph Roberts scoring their 1st 5-pointer of the 2nd half after only 2 minutes and the team eventually increased their try tally to 8.

Boland fought back and managed to score 2 tries thanks to Christian Rust and Hanno Kitshoff, but it was a case of too little too late for the Cavaliers.

Scorers:

ORC Griquas:

• Tries: Carel Greeff (4), Jono Janse van Rensburg (1), Riaan Viljoen, Rudi van Rooyen (1), Steph Roberts (1)
• Conversions: Francois Brummer (4)

Boland Cavaliers:

• Tries: Christian Rust (1), Hanno Kitshoff (1)
• Conversions: Eric Zana (1)
• Penalties: Eric Zana (1)

Teams:

ORC Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Rocco Jansen, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 PJ Vermeulen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (Captain), 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Nardus van der Walt, 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Stephan Kotze, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 Jono Janse van Rensburg, 20 Rudi van Rooyen, 21 AJ Coertzen, 22 Gouws Prinsloo.

Boland Cavaliers: 15 Eric Zana, 14 Senan Van Der Merwe, 13 Wilneth Engelbrecht, 12 Jos Malherbe, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Christian Rust, 9 Jovelian de Koker, 8 Wayne Wilschut, 7 Chaney Willemse, 6 Freginald Africa, 5 Gavin Annandale (Captain), 4 Hanno Kitshoff, 3 Deacon Chowles, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 Stephanus Wessels
Replacements: 16 Chadley Wenn, 17 Keenan Abrahams, 18 Yves Bashiya, 19 Nicolai Lubbe, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 Adriaan Carelse, 22 Ryno Conradie.

Leopards 53 / 7 Hino Valke:

The Leopards were in fine form in their clash against the Hino Valke as they dominated proceedings completely and used their try-scoring chances well to secure the 1st 50-point score in the competition this season.

Such was their dominance they scored 2 converted tries in the 1st 8 minutes, while flyhalf Adriaan Engelbrecht added a penalty and fullback Rhyno Smith a long-range drop goal to hand them a 20 / 0 lead at the break.

They continued to stamp their authority in the 2nd half by adding another 3 tries in the 1st 11 minutes. 2 Of these tries were scored by in-form wing Adri Jacobs, which allowed him to secure his 2nd hat-trick in as many matches.

Despite trailing far behind, the Valke hit back with their 1st and only try in the 55th minute compliments of replacement back Jaco Oosthuizen, but the rest of their efforts to close in on the Leopards proved fruitless.

Scorers:

Leopards:

• Tries: Adri Jacobs (3), Adrian Vermeulen (1), Loftus Morrison (1), Rhyno Smith (1), Robert Kruger (1)
• Conversions: Adriaan Engelbrecht (6)
• Drop Goal: Rhyno Smith (1)
• Penalties: Adriaan Engelbrecht (1)

Hino Valke:

• Tries: Jaco Oosthuizen (1)
• Conversions: Juan Kotze (1)

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Rowayne Beukman, 13 Adrian Vermeulen, 12 Johan Deysel, 11 Adri Jacobs, 10 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Juan Language (Captain), 7 Henro-Pierre Swart, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 5 Francois Robertse, 4 Robert Kruger, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson, 2 Wian Fourie, 1 Johan Smith
Replacements: 16 Dane van der Westhuyzen, 17 Devon Martinus, 18 Walt Steenkamp, 19 Loftus Morrison, 20 Hanco Venter, 21 Sizo Maseko, 22 Damian Engledoe.

Hino Valke: 15 Arno Poley, 14 Coert Cronje, 13 Christopher Bosch, 12 Willie Odendaal, 11 Riaan Arends, 10 Juan Kotze, 9 Anrich Richter, 8 Ernst Ladendorf, 7 JP Mostert (Captain), 6 Jacques Verwey, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Thulani Ngidi, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Andries Schutte
Replacements: 16 Stephan Hartman, 17 Nico Pretorius, 18 Friedle Olivier, 19 Andrew van Tonder, 20 Johan Pretorius, 21 Jaco Oosthuizen, 22 Grant Janke.

Currie Cup Qualifier Log (Under played, won, points):

1. Leopards (2, 2, 10)
2. ORC Griquas (2, 1, 6)
3. Boland Cavaliers (2, 1, 5)
4. Border Bulldogs (1, 1, 4)
5. Down Touch Griffons (2, 1, 4)
6. SWD Eagles (2, 0, 1)
7. Hino Valke (1, 0, 0)