The Blue Bulls got their Currie Cup title defence back on track at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday following their 32-18 victory over the Lions in Johannesburg.

The win ensured that the defending champions ended a two game losing streak in the 2010 competition while the hosts however conceded their third consecutive defeat this season.

Flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter produced a flawless kicking performance at Coca-Cola Park and added 27 points for the Blue Bulls.

The pivot scored a try and kicked six penalties while he also converted both tries scored by the Pretoria side. The talented Blue Bulls winger Gerhard van den Heever added the other five-pointer for the visitors.

Lions winger Deon van Rensburg and loose forward Warren Whiteley were the try scorers for the hosts who played an attacking brand of rugby throughout the game.

However tigerish defence by the Pretoria side ensured that their Johannesburg opponents conceded numerous turnovers and penalties at critical periods of the game. SA Under-20 flyhalf Elton Jantjies kicked two penalties and converted Whiteley’s five-pointer.

The victory for the defending champions ensured that they ended week four in fourth position on the Currie Cup log with 11 points.

The Blue Bulls are now seven points behind the log-leading Western Province who continued their impressive run in the 2010 Currie Cup following their convincing 54-13 win over the Barloworld Toyota Pumas at Newlands on Friday.

It was the Cape side’s second consecutive five-point victory of 2010 competition after they bagged maximum points from their 42-23 result against the Platinum Leopards in Potchefstroom last Friday.

Province secured the bonus point for scoring four tries at the stroke of half time when captain Anton van Zyl latched on to a pass from scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann before breaking the Pumas defence to score his five-pointer.

Flanker Pieter Louw though was the first WP player to add his name to the try-scoring sheet before Springbok winger Gio Aplon dazzled the Newlands crowd with his two tries.

Western Province coach Allister Coetzee afforded many of his young bench players such as flyhalf Lionel Cronje, scrumhalf Louis Schreuder and winger JJ Engelbrecht game time in the second half.

The hosts conceded two tries after the break which was scored by the Barloworld Toyota Pumas’ Shaun Venter and Torsten van Jaarsveld.

However WP managed to add three further five-pointers. Louw, thanks to the efforts of his forward pack, mauled his way over the try line to score his second five-pointer of the evening, Engelbrecht dotted down in the corner while former SA Under-20 flyhalf Cronje scored an intercept try.

Province flyhalf Willem de Waal notched up 15 points by kicking three penalties and three conversions. Cronje converted his own try and the second five-pointer scored by Louw.

Elgar Watts kicked one penalty for the Barloworld Toyota Pumas.

The Sharks secured their first away victory of the 2010 Currie Cup following their stunning 25-13 win over the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Centre Patrick Lambie, who represented the SA Under-20s during this year’s IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina, scored 20 points for his provincial side which included two tries during the final 10 minutes of the game played at Park.

The Sharks’ other try scorer was prop Eugene van Staden who also crashed over the try line during the second half. Lambie was also responsible for his side’s goal-kicking and added two penalties and two conversions.

Handling errors at crucial periods of the game denied the Free State Cheetahs many scoring opportunities throughout the game. As a result the hosts were only rewarded with one try which was added by scrumhalf Tewis de Bruyn in the first half.

Flyhalf Louis Strydom kicked the conversion and also slotted two penalty kicks at goal.

In the other Currie Cup game of the weekend, the GWK Griquas secured their third win of the 2010 competition following their 41-27 victory over the Platinum Leopards in Potchefstroom on Friday evening.

Flyhalf Naas Olivier who passed the 600-point mark in his Currie Cup career after he added 21 points in the game, scored a try and kicked two penalties and five conversions.

The Kimberley side’s other tries were added by Frikkie Spies, Sarel Pretorius and Bjorn Basson who ran in two five-pointers in the match.

Michael Bondesio also scored a brace of tries for the Platinum Leopards while Palm Koch ran in the hosts’ third try of the game. Clayton Durand (2) and Niell Jacobs converted the tries. Both Jacobs and Durand also kicked respective penalty kicks.

The result for the Platinum Leopards though ensured that they remained at the bottom of the log and is still the only team who are yet to secure a log point in this season’s Currie Cup.

Meanwhile the Blue Bulls, The Sharks and the Platinum Leopards all secured victories this weekend in the 2010 Under-21 Championship.

SA Under-20 winger and Springbok Sevens talent Sampie Mastriet scored two tries at Coca-Cola Park for the Blue Bulls U21s as they secured a 35-26 win over their Lions counterparts while in Bloemfontein; The Sharks U21s achieved a 27-23 victory over the Free State at Park on Saturday.

The Platinum Leopards also recorded a 34-18 convincing win over the Boland in the other Under-21 Championship game of the weekend.

In the Under-19 Championship, Blue Bulls U19 lock JJ Breedt who represented the SA U18s during last year’s High Performance programme scored two tries as his side defeated the Lions (38-20) in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Western Province U19s were too strong for the Griffons and outclassed the hosts 63-3 in Welkom while The Sharks also stunned the Free State U19s 33-13 in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Source: SARugby