Weekend WRAP

A quick look at the weekend’s rugby results:

Rugby Championship:
South Africa 27 – 6 Argentina
Australia 19 – 27 New Zealand

Currie Cup:
Sharks 30 – 14 Golden Lions
Griquas 20 – 25 Western Province
Cheetahs 32 – 18 Blue Bulls

Currie Cup 1st Division:
Pumas 38 – 27 Leopards
Eastern Province 57 – 19 Boland
Border 27 – 33 SWD
Griffons 36 – 39 Valke

U21:
Sharks 19 – 34 Blue Bulls
Griffons 27 – 31 Valke
Border 13 – 22 Lions
Cheetahs 31 – 36 WP
EP 61 – 10 Boland
Pumas 14 – 16 Griquas

U19:
Sharks 21 – 22 Bulls
Griffons 35 – 40 Valke
Free State 31 – 40 WP
SWD 5 – 46 Lions
Pumas 27 – 32 Griquas
EP 25 – 21 Boland

SA Schools 36-29 England

Selected school results:
Grey College 33-23 Paul Roos
Wynberg 24-12 Rondebosch
Bishops 3-34 SACS
Queen’s 28-0 Dale
Daniel Pienaar 22-45 Outeniqua

Selected club results:
Pretoria: Police 27-23 Tukkies (final)
KZN: Rovers 33-6 Collegians, Crusaders 20-13 Rhinos (Murray Cup semi finals)

The draw for this year’s Club Championships will be announced live on Superrugby (KykNet, DStv ch 111) on Monday night.

The 26-man Springbok squad to Argentina:

Forwards (15): Willem Alberts, Andries Bekker, Craig Burden, Pat Cilliers, Marcell Coetzee, Keegan Daniel, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Dean Greyling, Juandré Kruger, Tiaan Liebenberg, Tendai Mtawarira, Jacques Potgieter, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe.

Backs (11): Jean de Villiers (captain), JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Zane Kirchner, Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo, Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn, Morné Steyn, Jano Vermaak.

Currie Cup match reports:

Cheetahs (23) 32 Blue Bulls (10) 18

Right wing Riaan Smit succeeded with all seven of his kicks at goal as the Cheetahs went some way to erasing memories of the 43-20 loss to the Lions in their opening fixture.

The Cheetahs made an electric start to the match when they grabbed a try within 45 seconds of kick-off after the Blue Bulls tried to bash the ball up and conceded a turnover. The hosts shifted the ball to the left and lock Andries Ferreira managed to stretch out and score in the tackle.

Blue Bulls flyhalf Louis Fouchè and Smit traded penalties but, with 10 minutes left in the half the visitors finally got a try of their own through eighthman CJ Stander.

Fouchè kicked the conversion but the rest of the half belonged to the Cheetahs thanks to Smit’s third penalty before No 8 Kabamba Floors grabbed a try two minutes after the hooter had sounded.

Fouchè and Smit traded further penalties soon after the restart but the Cheetahs were starting to win the battle at the breakdown while their smothering defence was proving frustrating for the Blue Bulls as a number of their attacking forays were snuffed out.

But with seven minutes left in the match the Blue Bulls finally breached the Cheetahs’ defence when Stander strolled over in the right-hand corner for a consolation try.

Cheetahs – Tries: Kabamba Floors, Andries Ferreira. Conversions: Riaan Smit (2). Penalties: Smit (5), Nico Scheepers.
Blue Bulls – Tries: CJ Stander (2). Conversion: Louis Fouchè. Penalties: Fouchè (2).

Griquas (12) 20 Western Province (7) 25

Steven Kitshoff scored the decisive try with 14 minutes to play as Western Province overcame a wretched start to the game in gusty conditions with early tries by Rynard Landman and Wilmaure Louw putting the hosts 12-0 ahead.

But Ederies Arendse scored in the dying minutes of the half, before JP du Plessis and Kitshoff completed the turnaround, which gave Allister Coetzee’s side a first win of the season.

But it would not have been the script they wanted after being given an almighty scare by the plucky home side. They began like a house on fire and went ahead in just the seventh minute after a flowing move down the left saw lock Landman collect a quick pass from winger Rocco Jansen on the left and power his way over.

Fullback Francois Brummer missed the conversion, but five minutes later the lead was doubled when wing Louw dived over on the right for a converted score after Stefan Watermeyer had initially set up the move with a strong carry down the middle.

The possession stakes read 73%-27% in favour of the hosts after 25 minutes and they continued to dominate until the final minute of the half when Arendse ran 35 metres to score, the try coming as a result of a brilliant Marcel Brache off-load on the left.

It was a real blow to the Griquas cause, but to their credit, they hit back via a Brummer penalty straight after the interval. With the clock fast running down, Kitshoff scored the decisive try when he collected in the centre and ran through a gap to score under the posts.

Griquas – Tries: Wilmaure Louw, Rynard Landman, Jaco Nepgen. Conversion: Francois Brummer. Penalty: Brummer.
WP – Tries: Steven Kitshoff, JP du Plessis, Ederies Arendse. Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (2). Penalties: Catrakilis (2).

Sharks (6) 30 Golden Lions (7) 14

The Sharks moved to the top of the table and established themselves as early favourites for the title with Meyer Bosman slotting three penalties and three conversions as the Sharks turned around a one-point half-time deficit to record their second win of the competition in as many games. They only negative perhaps, being that they missed out on a bonus point …

The Lions, after whipping the Cheetahs in their opening game, promised much in the early exchanges but the Sharks were eventually too good for them on the night.

The Sharks were the first to register points when Lions flanker Josh Strauss was penalised for a high tackle. Bosman made no mistake with the kick.

The Lions then made their dominance count when they were awarded a penalty try as the Sharks succumbed to severe scrum pressure on their tryline once too often for referee Mark Lawrence’s liking. Flyhalf Butch James slotted the straight-forward conversion.

Bosman kicked a penalty minutes later to narrow the difference to one point and the Lions were set back on the stroke of halftime when lock Hendrik Roodt was sin-binned for a professional foul.

With Roodt doing time on the sidelines, the Sharks wrested the momentum from the Lions and they took the lead for the first time in the game when Bosman added another penalty.

They went even further ahead before Roodt’s return when they put the ball through a number of hands for left wing S’bura Sithole to show a good turn of pace and outstrip the Lions’ defence out wide to score in the corner.

The Lions were even more on the back foot when right wing Odwa Ndungane went over, but the visitors bounced back when flanker Cobus Grobbelaar powered over.

But Sharks captain Jean Deysel showed just how strong he is with ball in hand when he dragged a number of defenders over the tryline to put the matter beyond doubt.

Sharks – Tries: Sibusiso Sithole, Odwa Ndungane, Jean Deysel. Conversions: Meyer Bosman (3). Penalties: Bosman (3).
Lions – Tries: Cobus Grobbelaar, penalty try. Conversions: Butch James (2)

First Division:

Pumas (18) 38 Leopards (10) 27

JC Roos kicked 18 points to help the Pumas, playing once again at Mbombela Stadium, to avenge the 32-23 loss they had suffered at the hands of the Leopards earlier in the season.

Roos and Leopards flyhalf André Pretorius traded early penalties before the visitors moved into the lead with a try from the prolific wing Allister Kettledas, who went over for his seventh five-pointer of the season.

However, Roos narrowed the gap with his second penalty before the Pumas regained the lead when the barnstorming Kember went over for a converted try in the 29th minute. Kember grabbed his second try five minutes later as the Pumas went to the break holding an eight-point lead.

The second half was a far more thrilling affair with both teams combining for five tries although the Pumas never lost their half-time lead.

Pumas – Tries: Shaun Venter, RW Kember (2), Coenie van Wyk. Conversions: JC Roos (3). Penalties: Roos (4).
Leopards – Tries: SJ Niemand, Philip de Wet, Jaco Grobler, Allister Kettledas. Conversions: Andrè Pretorius (2). Penalty: Pretorius.

EP (36) 57 Boland (5) 19

EP celebrated their inclusion in Super Rugby with a crushing victory over Boland at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday.

The unbeaten Kings, who after nine months of speculation were voted into next year’s Super tournament, shed the shackles of uncertainty and ran the ball whenever the opportunity presented itself. They scored eight tries to Boland’s three and thereby increased their unbeaten streak to eight games.

They helped themselves to five first-half tries and secured the bonus-point score through flyhalf Wesley Dunlop as early as the 24th minute. The Kings first got onto the scoreboard in the ninth minute when captain and No 8 Luke Watson crashed over from a maul which rolled all of 20 metres.

Five minutes later, prop Clint Newland scored his team’s second from more driving play by his fellow forwards. Centre Tiger Mangweni collected a pass from Samoan winger Paul Perez to score the third try midway through the first half.

After Dunlop had made it 26-0 with his try which he converted himself, fullback SP Marais intercepted the ball close to his own tryline and ran the length of the field to score under the posts. Dunlop slotted the easy conversion and kicked another penalty but not before Boland opened their account with try by flank Philip van Zyl.

Watson thereafter got his second try of the match shortly after the restart to rub further salt in the wounds and ensure that the Kings established themselves, if they had not already done so, as odds-on favourites for the title.

– Tries: Wimpie van der Walt, Wesley Dunlop, Tiger Mangweni, SP Marais, Luke Watson (2), Cornell du Preez, Clint Newland. Conversions: Dunlop (6), George Whitehead. Penalty: Dunlop.
Boland– Tries: Senan van der Merwe, PJ van Zyl, Nolan Clark. Conversions: Eric Zana, Jacquin Jansen.

Border (24) 27 SWD (19) 33

Livewire JD Herbst, playing scrumhalf and wing, scored two dazzling tries to lead SWD to a thrilling victory on Friday. Herbst, who showed blazing speed off the mark and who was an elusive attacker all over the field, was the shining light as the Eagles overcame a flying start by the Bulldogs.

Border scored three first-half tries and played well enough, defending heroically in the second half, to leave their supporters eagerly anticipating their first win in this year’s competition. But it was not to be, as Herbst’s vision and pace proved crucial as he went over for his first try.

The powerful Eagles forwards had been strangely subdued, but they began to show their strength in the second quarter and flanker Shaun Raubenheimer was driven over for the visitors’ second try.

A Jannie Myburgh penalty just before the break meant the Eagles were trailing 24-19 heading into the second half, but they produced the sort of powerful forward performance one would normally associate with SWD rugby to thoroughly dominate the last 40 minutes.

Bulldogs – Tries: Frans Laatz (2), Chumani Booi. Conversions: Jannie Myburgh (3). Penalties: Myburgh (2).
Eagles – Tries: Theuns Kotze, Shaun Raubenheimer, Johan Herbst (2), Jeff Taljard. Conversions: Kotze (4).

Griffons (22) 36 Valke (10) 39

Nagging fears that the Griffons have dropped out of First Division contention were confirmed in Welkom on Friday. Having won their first four matches to set the early pace in the competition, they squandered a strong first-half showing and a 22-5 lead to lose their fourth successive game and leave themselves in danger of slipping out of playoff contention.

The Valke’s victory was only sealed in the 82nd minute when replacement flyhalf Kotze slotted a 38-metre penalty after Griffons flank Martin Sithole had been caught playing the ball in a ruck while on his knees. This had followed his knock-on which had given the visitors a scrum as normal time finished.

This was a horrible ending for the hard-working Sithole, who had enjoyed a fine match before that, including creating a try for Oshwill Nortjè which gave the Griffons a 36-29 lead with 14 minutes left, but one which they simply could not defend.

Griffons – Tries: Rudi Britz, Reinhardt Erwee, Oshwill Nortjè, Nicky Steyn (2), Chris-Erich Ehlers. Conversions: Hansie Graaff (2), Tiaan van Wyk.
Valke – Tries: Nico Engelbrecht, JW Bell (3), Anrich Richter (2). Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2), Juan Kotze. Penalty: Kotze