The Sharks sent out a strong warning that they are not going to let go of their Currie Cup crown without a fight when they comprehensively beat the log-leading Golden Lions to clinch a home semi-final next week.

Western Province booked their tickets to Johannesburg next week with a solid 43-18 victory over the Pumas, ruling the Blue Bulls out of the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

Even though the Free State Cheetahs beat Griquas by 49-39 in their match in Bloemfontein, the Sharks’ 53-9 drubbing of the Golden Lions meant the team from Bloemfontein have to travel to Durban next weekend.

The Blue Bulls finished a disappointing season with the biggest score of 2011 when they crushed the Leopards by 92-21 in Pretoria on Friday evening.

Under-21 and Under-19 A-Division

The Blue Bulls topped the logs in the A-Division of the Under-19 and Under-21 competitions, qualifying for home semi-finals next weekend.

Blue Bulls vs Leopards

The Blue Bulls did everything in their power to keep alive their slim mathematical chance of reaching the Currie Cup Premier Division semi-finals, but in the end not even a massive victory of 92-21 over the Leopards at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria was enough as they crashed out of the competition.

The Blue Bulls scored 14 tries, including a penalty try, as they racked up the joint-most points scored in a single Currie Cup match since 13 September 2008, when Western Province beat the Valke by 92-15 in Cape Town.

Springbok wing Bjorn Basson got a hat-trick, while No 8 CJ Stander and lock Juandré Kruger got two each. The Blue Bulls were devastating in the second half and scored 57 of their points in this period, while the Leopards could not add to their first-half tally of 21.

And even though they finished the season on a high, the Blue Bulls, Currie Cup champions in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 (shared) and 2009, were left ruing a couple of defeats earlier on in 2011.

Final Score Blue Bulls 92 (35) Leopards 21 (21)

Scorers:

Blue Bulls
Tries: Akona Ndungane, CJ Stander (2), Jano Vermaak, Francois Venter, Juandré Kruger (2), Bjorn Basson (3), Arno Botha, Gary Botha, Francois Brummer; Penalty try
Conversions: Louis Fouche (11)

Leopards
Tries: Wesley Dunlop, Joubert Engelbrecht, Hoffman Maritz
Conversions: Dunlop (3)

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling.

Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Jurgen Visser.

Leopards: 15 Hofmann Maritz, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Charl Weideman, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht (captain), 11 Vainon Willis, 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Johann Laker, 8 Robert Kruger, 7 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 6 Philip de Wet, 5 Brendon Snyman, 4 Brad Mock, 3 Dewald Coetzee, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Jean-Jacques Rossouw.

Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Buhle Mxunyelwa, 18 Bêrend Botha, 19 Spanner Pretorius, 20 George Tossel, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Jovan Bowles.

Free State Cheetahs vs Griquas

With the possibility of a home semi-final still within their reach at kick-off, the Free State Cheetahs did everthing in their power to finish second in the Currie Cup Premier Division when they beat neighbours Griquas by 49-39 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The Sharks put an end to the Cheetahs’ aspirations a bit later though, but the Free Staters will still be happy with a good victory a week before they have to travel to Durban to take on the KwaZulu-Natalians in a semi-final.

The home team scored six tries to Griquas’ five, but the visiting team got three of their tries in the final 10 minutes, when the Free State Cheetahs had already wrapped up the match.

Young Cheetahs flanker Pieter Labuschagne, one of their finds of the season, scored two tries for the home team, one in each half.

When replacement centre Werner Griesel scored the Cheetahs’ sixth try in the 70th minute, they took a commanding 49-20 lead, after which Dusty Noble (wing), Steph Roberts (replacement hooker) and Sarel Pretorius (scrumhalf), in his final match for the Peacock Blues, scored tries to give Griquas’ score a bit more respectability.

Final Score Free State Cheetahs 49 (20) Griquas 39 (10)

Scorers:

Free State Cheetahs
Tries: Cameron Jacobs, Pieter Labuschagne (2), Adriaan Strauss, Philip Burger, Werner Griesel
Conversions: Nico Scheepers, Tewis de Bruyn (4)
Penalties: Scheepers (2), De Bruyn

Griquas
Tries: Riaan Viljoen, Leon Karemaker, Dusty Noble, Steph Roberts, Sarel Pretorius
Conversions: Rudi Vogt (3)
Penalties: Vogt (2)

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Tewis de Bruyn, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Pieter Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe.

Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Johan Wessels, 20 Enrico Acker, 21 Philip Burger, 22 Werner Griesel.

Griquas: 15 Rudi Vogt, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Matthew Rosslee, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Riaan Viljoen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 5 George Earle, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Ivann Espag.

Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Jaco Nepgen, 19 Burger Schoeman, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 Earl Rose, 22 Fabian Juries.

Western Province vs Pumas

Siya Kolisi’s try in the 58th minute gave Western Province a four-try bonus point which was enough to secure them fourth position on the Currie Cup Premier Division log in their victory of 43-18 over the Pumas at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.

But they had to work hard for this one. After returning Springbok Juan de Jongh crossed for WP’s third try in the 29th minute, the Pumas held them off for half an hour before Kolisi could score the vital five-pointer.

WP started like a house on fire, with another returning Bok, Jean de Villiers, getting the score board rolling in the third minute. Hooker Deon Fourie also crossed the chalk, in the 11th minute before De Jongh made it three.

And Province finished like they started. After Kolisi’s try, JJ Engelbrecht and Bryan Habana’s tries pushed WP’s score up to 43. But the Pumas deserve some credit as they never stopped working and really took the game to the Capetonians, with loose forwards Jaco Bouwer and RW Kember (replacement) scoring tries for team from Mpumalanga.

Final Score Western Province 43 (24) Pumas 18 (8)

Scorers:

Western Province
Tries: Jean de Villiers, Deon Fourie, Juan de Jongh, Siya Kolisi, JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana
Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (3), Conrad Jantjes (2)
Penalty: Catrakilis

Pumas
Tries: Jaco Bouwer, RW Kember
Conversion: Carl Bezuidenhout
Penalties: Bezuidenhout (2)

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 JJ Engelbrecht, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nick Köster, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Adriaan Fondse, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 JC Kritzinger.

Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Tertius Daniller, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

Pumas: 15 MJ Mentz, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Dewald Pretorius, 11 Johan Jackson, 10 Carl Bezuidenhout, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Christo le Roux, 7 Jaco Bouwer, 6 Corné Steenkamp (captain), 5 Eduan van der Walt, 4 Willem Serfontein, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 1 Dawie Steyn.

Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Brett Nel, 18 JP Mostert, 19 RW Kember, 20 Hendrik van der Nest, 21 Coenie van Wyk, 22 Siviwe Magaba.

The Sharks vs Golden Lions

The Sharks are not planning to give up their Currie Cup Premier Division crown without a massive fight as they showed with arguably their best performance of the 2011-season when they crushed the Golden Lions by 53-9 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening.

Bolstered by a number of returning Springboks, The Sharks scored seven tries and did not concede one against the team who had already wrapped up the first position on the log before this match.

As a result, the Golden Lions decided to give a number of their fringe players some game time, resting some first-choice players.

A yellow card to Lions lock Michael Rhodes in the 29th minute cost the visitors, with Ryan Kankowski, back after weeks on the sidelines because of injury, scoring the first of his two tries to see The Sharks take a 14-6 lead into the break.

They never let up and with three tries in the final 15 minutes, by JP Pietersen (replacement wing), Jacques Botes (replacement flank) and Stefan Terblanche (centre) helped The Sharks surpass 50 points for the first time this season.

Flyhalf Fred Michalak contributed 23 points to comfortably top the list of Currie Cup points scorers. The French international finished the league phase of the season with 181 points, followed by Elton Jantjies (Golden Lions) on 145, Rudi Vogt (Griquas) on 144, Demetri Catrakilis ( WP) on 135 and Sias Ebersohn ( FS Cheetahs) and Louis Fouche ( Blue Bulls), both on 126.

Final Score The Sharks 53 (14) Golden Lions 9 (6)

Scorers:

The Sharks
Tries: Fred Michalak, Ryan Kankowski (2), Willem Alberts, JP Pietersen, Jacques Botes, Stefan Terblanche
Conversions: Michalak (6)
Penalties: Michalak (2)

Golden Lions
Penalties: Burton Francis (3)

Teams:

The Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Stefan Terblanche, 12 Marius Joubert, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Conrad Hoffmann, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Jean Deysel, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Eugene van Staden.

Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Willem Alberts, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 22 JP Pietersen.

Golden Lions: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Dylan Des Fountain, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 James Kamana, 10 Burton Francis, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Josh Strauss (captain), 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Michael Rhodes, 4 Wikus van Heerden, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.

Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Franco van der Merwe, 19 Derick Minnie, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Butch James, 22 Michael Killian.