The weekend’s rugby results:
Super Rugby:
Crusaders 15 – 11 Reds
Cheetahs 17 – 13 Force
Sharks 28 – 16 Highlanders
Brumbies 23 – 6 Waratahs
Chiefs 34 – 21 Lions
Hurricanes 35 – 19 Blues
Rebels 35 – 41 Bulls
Vodacom Cup:
Sharks 36 – 37 Blue Bulls
Western Province 58 – 34 Golden Lions
Pumas 30 – 19 Eastern Province
Griquas 26 – 18 Pampas XV
Glasgow Sevens
Final Cup: ENGLAND 14 – 29 NEW ZEALAND
Third Place: FIJI 31 – 17 AUSTRALIA
SF Cup: AUSTRALIA 7 – 22 NEW ZEALAND
SF Cup: ENGLAND 26 – 21 FIJI
Final Plate: SAMOA 31 – 12 WALES
SF Plate: WALES 12 – 5 ARGENTINA
SF Plate: SOUTH AFRICA 0 – 47 SAMOA
Final Bowl: RUSSIA 33 – 19 SPAIN
Final Shield: UNITED STATES 14 – 22 KENYA
Series Standings
1 – NEW ZEALAND 150
2 –FIJI 139
3 – ENGLAND 123
4 – SOUTH AFRICA 115
5 – SAMOA 114
Aviva Premiership
London Irish 52 – 18 Gloucester
Northampton 42 – 14 Worcester
Saracens 40 – 22 Exeter
Leicester 28 – 3 Bath
Wasps 10 – 14 Newcastle
Sale 10 – 24 Harlequins
RaboDirect PRO12
Newport 18 – 22 Leinster
Edinburgh 44 – 21 Treviso
Aironi Rugby 11 – 18 Ospreys
Munster 36 – 8 Ulster
Scarlets 29 – 20 Cardiff
Glasgow 24 – 3 Connacht
Top 14
Toulon 25 – 22 Toulouse
Brive 9 – 23 Bordeaux-Begles
Perpignan 34 – 22 Lyon
Bayonne 31 – 10 Agen
Racing Metro 19 – 13 Stade Francais
Castres 30 – 19 Clermont Auvergne
Montpellier 21 – 16 Biarritz
Selected school results (courtesy Rugby365):
Dale vs Stirling, 26-0
Daniël Pienaar vs Die Brandwag, 28-23
Grey Bloem vs Selborne, 54-5
Queen’s vs Grey PE, 22-19
St Andrew’s vs Graeme, 10-6
St John’s vs St Andrew’s (Bloemfontein), 24-9
Glenwood vs Northwood, 20-8
Kearsney vs DHS, 27-21
KES vs Maritzburg College, 42-25
Michaelhouse vs Hilton, 12-11
St Alban’s vs St Charles, 26-10
Affies vs Pretoria Boys High, 34-11
Centurion vs Waterkloof, 49-47
EG Jansen vs Nelspruit, 34-27
HTS John Vorster vs Jeppe, 26-6
Hudson Park vs Kingswood, 31-28
Monument vs Ermelo, 27-3
St Stithians vs Parktown, 52-28
Boland Landbou vs SACS, 43-21
Paarl Gym vs Bishops, 57-3
Rondebosch vs Brackenfell, 46-10
Stellenberg vs DF Malan, 38-11
Tygerberg vs Paul Roos, 22-20
Wynberg vs Bellville, 24-3
The Vodacom Cup semi finals:
Friday, May 11, 2012
Griquas v Blue Bulls, GWK Park, Kimberley
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Western Province v Pumas, Newlands, Cape Town
Super Rugby match reports:
Rebels 35 (28) Bulls 41 (31)
For a second successive match the Bulls conceded five tries in but still emerged victorious, and this time they also scored five tries, enough to take them to the top of the SA Conference.
Morne Steyn was spot on with his goal kicking, slotting all seven his kicks at goal, and in the end, this was the difference between winning and an embarrassing defeat in Melbourne.
A personal haul of 21 points, including his first try of the season, saw the flyhalf regain his place at the top of the list of points’ scorers.
While their defence was leaky yet again, the Bulls did up their attacking standard, with most of their tries well set up and deserved reward for pressure play in Rebels’ territory.
Rebels – Tries: Rodney Blake, Cooper Vuna (2), Nick Phibbs, Gareth Delve. Conversions: Kurtley Beale (5).
Bulls – Tries: Akona Ndungane, Bjorn Basson, Morné Steyn, CJ Stander, JJ Engelbrecht. Conversions: Steyn (5). Penalty goals: Steyn (2).
Chiefs 34 (20) Lions 21 (7)
Too many unforced errors, especially on attack, when looking to get the impossible pass away rather than place the ball, saw the inept Lions go down yet again on Saturday morning.
The Lions made three times as many handling errors as their hosts in slippery conditions and a number of these knock-ons, especially early in the game, came when the South Africans were on the attack.
Their discipline was good, but the unnecessary mistakes with ball in hand gifted the Chiefs numerous attacking opportunities from turnovers, which they gladly accepted.
All three the Lions’ tries came from good rolling mauls in the Chiefs’ 22. Cobus Grobbelaar scored twice and Josh Strauss, who looked to be on his last legs, got a well-deserved five-pointer.
SA cannot sustain 5 franchises, so it might was well be the Kings, as they cannot really do worse than this lot …
Chiefs – Tries: Aaron Cruden, Craig Clarke, Lelia Masaga, Brendon Leonard. Conversions: Cruden (4). Penalty goals: Cruden (2).
Lions – Tries: Cobus Grobbelaar (2), Josh Strauss. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (3).
Sharks 28 (15) Highlanders 16 (9)
Welcome back back Pat Lambie! The flyhalf scored all the Sharks’ points as they got back to winning ways.
Lambie slotted seven penalty goals and converted his own try to push his career points’ tally past 300. He also passed 100 points this season. It was also the second successive game that Lambie scored all of his team’s points.
Much like a few of the weekend’s games, the quality of rugby was not the best. For that there were too many mistakes on both sides, especially when the rain started pouring down in the second half, while the men from Otago were also not the most disciplined on the day.
Sharks – Try: Pat Lambie. Conversion: Lambie. Penalty goals: Lambie (7).
Highlanders – Try: Kurt Baker. Conversion: Mike Delany. Penalty goals: Delany (3).
Cheetahs 17 (9) Force 13 (6)
A classic it wasn’t, but the Cheetahs’ will take it as their last win was on April 7 in round seven against the Lions.
The Force’s discipline let them down in this one. They were heavily penalised and conceded 16 penalties to the Cheetahs’ 8. One of these, for foul play, saw the Ozzies called back after they had crossed the home team’s try-line.
Both tries were scored in the second half. Winston Stanley crossed in the 46th minute to put the Force ahead by 13-9, but Adriaan Strauss pulled one back 8 minutes later to take the home side out to a 14-13 – a lead they never relinquished.
Sias Ebersohn, who missed the conversion of Strauss’ try, stretched the Free Staters’ lead to four points on the hour mark, after which both teams seemed to tire as they tried in vain to get more points on the board.
Cheetahs – Try: Adriaan Strauss. Penalty goals: Sias Ebersohn (3), Tewis de Bruyn.
Force – Try: Winston Stanley. Conversion: David Harvey. Penalty goals: Harvey (2)
Next week’s Super Rugby fixtures:
Friday, May 11, 2012
09:35: Blues v Lions, Eden Park, Auckland
11:40: Waratahs v Bulls, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Saturday, May 12, 2012
09:35: Highlanders v Hurricanes, Dunedin
11:40: Rebels v Crusaders, AAMI Park, Melbourne
17:05: Sharks v Force, Kings Park, Durban
19:10: Stormers v Cheetahs, Newlands, Cape Town
Sunday, May 13, 2012
08:10: Reds v Chiefs, Suncorp, Brisbane
Congrats to Deha Swanepoel on his FRG Superbru Yellow Cap this weekend. Seven out of seven with six margin points … Very impressive stuff! He wins a copy of “Year of the Gherkin” by John Dobson …
