Currie Cup Wrap

With the World Cup taking centre stage for obvious reasons this weekend, we might have got a view into the future of the Currie Cup. The actual rugby was fairly humdrum, although exciting enough, especially in Bloemfontein, but there were many more empty seats than filled ones at all the televised games …

The Golden Lions secured a top four spot on the log when they fought back to clinch an unlikely draw against the Cheetahs, and in moving up to 45 log points, they ensured their first semi-final since 2008.

A gutsy Western Province moved back into the top four on the log with a deserved 15-10 victory over The Sharks in a scrappy match in Durban, while the Blue Bulls and Griquas both kept their play-off aspirations alive with bonus point victories.

Blue Bulls 47 (28) Pumas 12 (7)

The Blue Bulls secured their third try scoring bonus point when they beat the Pumas by 47-12, scoring six tries in total as they remain in contention for the semi-finals, albeit in 5th position on the log.

Blue Bulls – Tries: Flip van der Merwe, Louis Fouché, CJ Stander, Francois Venter, Arno Botha, Bjorn Basson. Conversions: Fouché (4). Penalties: Fouché (3).

Pumas – Tries: Jaco Bouwer, Marius Coetzer. Conversion: Coenie van Wyk.

Cheetahs 25 (15) Golden Lions 25 (5)

Two late converted tries with Tewis de Bruyn in the sin bin saw the Golden Lions snatch an unlikely 25-25 draw in Bloem. With five minutes to go, the Cheetahs were ahead by 25-11 and seemingly on their way to their third consecutive victory against a higher-placed team on the log, but when De Bruyn was yellow carded, the Golden Lions cut loose and scored two converted tries – by replacement prop Jacobie Adriaanse and left wing Michael Killian – to level the scores.

The visitors scored three tries to the one of the Cheetahs, whose SA U20 flyhalf Johan Goosen kept the scoreboard ticking over with his accurate (and lengthy) goal kicking via four penalty goals and a dropped goal. This before he was unlucky to take knock to the head and be stretchered off. He was seen shaking hands with the Lions players after the game so one has to presume that the neck brace was precautionary, which would be a relief to the Cheetahs coaches, because Goosen might as well have been born with the tattoo “Future Bok” on his forehead.

This was the second time in a month that the Cheetahs have drawn a match after conceding a heap of points late in the game.

Cheetahs – Try: Piet van Zyl. Conversion: Sias Ebersohn. Penalties: Johan Goosen (4) Sias Ebersohn. Drop goal: Goosen.

Golden Lions – Tries: Cobus Grobbelaar, Jacobie Adriaanse, Michael Killian. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalties: Jantjies (2).

Leopards 23 (10) Griquas 38 (3)

Five second half tries saw Griquas keep their slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive when they beat the gutsy Leopards by 38-23 in Potchefstroom.

At half time the home team lead by 10-3, but enter scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius, who scored his team’s first try minutes after taking to the field. After that followed two more tries as the team from the Northern Cape stamped their authority on the match. The Leopards hit back with a second try of their own, but the visitors finally cut loose with two more tries late in the match.

Leopards – Tries: Wesley Dunlop, Vainon Willis. Conversions: Dunlop, Clayton Durand. Penalties: Dunlop (2). Drop goal: Dunlop.

Griquas – Tries: Sarel Pretorius, Rocco Jansen, Riaan Viljoen, Jonathan Mokuena, Leon Karemaker. Conversions: Rudi Vogt (3), Monty Dumond (2). Penalty: Vogt.

Sharks 10 (7) Western Province 15 (7)

Dewaldt Duvenage scored a late try to go with his penalty goal to help seal a dull 15-10 victory over the Sharks. It was a scrappy match that was played in very windy conditions, with The Sharks struggling to convert an early advantage mainly because of unforced errors and good defence by WP.

Jean Deysel, who was moved to lock in a shuffled Sharks line-up shortly before kick-off, got the home team on the board with a try in the tenth minute and while it looked like The Sharks had the ascendancy upfront, they could not score any more points. WP took their chances in the difficult circumstances, with Danie Poolman (right wing) scoring a well-worked converted try to level the scores at 7-7 shortly before the break.

Just as it looked like the game was headed for a draw, Duwenhage hacked through a loose ball and scored the match winner with three minutes left in a game that will probably not be remembered for the right reasons.

Sharks – Try: Jean Deysel. Conversion: Meyer Bosman. Penalty: Fred Michalak.

Western Province – Tries: Danie Poolman, Dewaldt Duvenage. Conversion: Lionel Cronje. Penalty: Duvenage.

Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Log

Absa Currie Cup First Division

Boland secured their place at the top of the First Division standings with an emphatic 53-24 victory over SWD in George and will now host the Griffons in the semi-finals.

EP and the Valke will contest the other semi-final after the East Randers snuck into third position thanks to a 34-31 victory over Border in East London.

Boland and EP have been in a class of their own this season, completely dominating the First Division, each losing only one match the entire season. Only a monster upset will prevent the two sides from meeting in the final …

SWD 24 (17) Boland 53 (22)

SWD – Tries: Wilhelm Koch, Braam Immelman, Mzo Dyantyi. Conversions: Elric van Vuuren (2), Deroy Rhoode. Penalty: Rhoode.
Boland – Tries: Willie le Roux (2), Ashton Constant, Zandré Jordaan, Elgar Watts, Danwel Demas, Bolla Conradie. Conversions: Watts (6). Penalties: Watts (2).

Border 31 (21) Valke 34 (10)

Border – Tries: Ntabeni Dukisa, Vuyo Mboto, Shane Spring. Conversions: Dukisa, Dale Sabbagh. Penalties: Dukisa (2), Sabbagh (2).
Valke – Tries: Jaco Snyman (2), Kyle Hendricks, Chris Ehlers, Clinton Kayser. Conversions: Juan Kotze (3). Penalty: Kotze.

Absa Currie Cup First Division Log