Griquas break new ground

It was one-way traffic in Groblersdal where Griquas broke the Vodacom Cup record for the biggest win by beating the Limpopo Blue Bulls 124-5.

This bettered the mark set by the Leopards XV last week against the same opponents, when the North West team romped home 113-3. Griquas scored a record 20 tries and both Rocco Jansen and Marnus Schoeman (five apiece), now share the record for most tries in a match by a player with Stephen Brink and Jannie van der Walt, who did the same in 1998 and 2001 respectively.

Griquas took control of the match in the first half as they scored six tries and led 38-5 at half-time. Limpopo had no answer to the structured play of the visitors as Griquas' excellent control and their ability to recycle the ball through several phases to stretch the defense, had the hosts in complete disarray.

There were also big scores recorded in Nelspruit, where the Pumas beat the Griffons 64-7 and in Robertson where the SWD Eagles scored a very comfortable 44-12 win over the Boland Cavaliers.

It was not only in Groblersdal and Robertson where the home side felt out of place, with the likes of EP Kings and Lions failed to capitalize on their home ground advantage.

The SWD Eagles ran riot in the second half and scored 31 unanswered points to trounce the Boland Cavaliers 44-12 at the Callie de Wet Stadium in Robertson on Saturday. Flyhalf Jeff Taljard scored 19 points with the boot via five conversions and three penalties and former Free State Cheetahs and Springbok flanker, Kabamba Floors, finished off an energetic afternoon by scoring the fifth try for the Eagles in the 64th minute of the match.

The Pampas continued their unbeaten run in the competition, outplaying the Border Bulldogs in a 45-26 win in Stellenbosch on Saturday, claiming a bonus point along with the convincing win. The Bulldogs are yet to win a game this season and remain at the bottom of the South Section log. Five tries in the first half put the Pampas in control with Jeronimo de la Fuente scoring twice while Benjamin Madero slotted two conversions.

Things were much tighter in Durban though, where The Sharks XV scored two late tries to pip the Free State XV 34-33. S'burra Sithole and Franco Marais scored in the last ten minutes for the hosts, and even though the visitors scored a last-minute touchdown, it wasnt enough to deny the Sharks a full haul of five points. Fred Zeilinga, the young pivot for the Sharks XV, slotted all his kicks in tough conditions and added a try in a personal haul of 19 points. He is the leading points' scorer in the competition with 60 points.

Earlier, in the other South Section match, there was much relief in Cape Town with defending Vodacom Cup champions, Western Province, finally getting it right for their first win of the season when they outplayed the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth.

Flanker Chris Cloete ran in a hat-trick to help put away the home side 43-18 on Friday night. Five tries in the first half all but sealed the win for the visitors and their 31-18 lead at the break was extended by the trusted boot of Gary van Aswegen in the second half, with the replacement flyhalf kicking three penalties and a dropped goal.

Up north the rampant Pumas ran in ten tries in comprehensively beating the Griffons 64-7 at the Nelspruit rugby club on Saturday. The Pumas dominated every aspect of the game, but the final score might have flattered them a tad as the Griffons could not convert several promising opportunities into tries.

Pumas captain Corne Steenkamp was an inspirational presence for the hosts with his excellent support play. Roscoe Speckman and Faf de Klerk were arguably the two best backline players on view as the Nelspruit faithful saw some excellent movements by the Pumas.

At Ellis Park, where his older brother normally rules, Tony Jantjies scored 27 points as the Blue Bulls thumped the Golden Lions 54-26. He kicked five conversions, four penalties (including three in the first seven minutes) and scored a try as the men from Pretoria ran riot.

It was a fantastic display by the flyhalf who directed the backline like a true general does his troops. The hosts had no answer to the sweeping open play of the visitors and the Blue Bulls played some magnificent running rugby.

On Friday, former Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius turned back the clock with a polished performance to steer the Leopards to a comfortable 47-16 win over the Valke in Potchefstroom. Pretorius landed six out of seven conversions for a personal haul of 12 points.

The home side scored three tries after only 11 minutes and with more than an hour to play the result was already beyond doubt. Pretorius, who played the last of his 31 test matches nearly six years ago, calmly dictated matters with great tactical awareness behind a dominant pack. The Valke were a fumbling mess and were strangely subdued a week after they had beaten the Golden Lions in Brakpan.

All the results and scorers:

Pampas 45-26 Border

Pampas:

Tries: De la Fuente 2, Massero, Macom, Cordero, Fruttero, Penalty Try

Cons: Madero 3, Gonzales Iglesias.

Border:

Tries: Crocker, Pretorius, Seerane

Cons: Aspelling

Pens: Aspelling 3

Pumas 64-7 Griffons

Pumas:

Tries: Speckman 2, De Klerk 2, Herne 2, Steenkamp, Bezuidenhout, Watermeyer, Bell, Loock

Cons: Marx 4, Bezuidenhout 3

Griffons:

Try: Mahoney

Con: Graaff

Boland Cavaliers 12-44 SWD Eagles

Boland Cavaliers:

Tries: Trytsman, Van Zyl

Con: April

SWD Eagles:

Tries: Herbst, Rhoode, Hartnick, Floors, Penalty Try

Cons: Taljard 5

Pens: Taljard 3

Limpopo Blue Bulls 5-124 Griquas

Griquas:

Tries: Schoeman 5, Jansen 5, Vulindlu 2, Acker, Penalty Try, Carney, Coetzee, Karemaker, Downey, Brummer, Lawson

Cons: Brummer (2

Limpopo Blue Bulls:

Try: Muller

Golden Lions 26-54 Blue Bulls

Golden Lions:

Tries: Nel, Davids 2, Vorster

Cons: Davids 3

Blue Bulls:

Tries: Liebenberg 2, Janse van Rensburg, Jantjies, Steyl, Penalty Try

Cons: Jantjies 5, Beyers

Pens: Jantjies 4

Sharks XV 34-33 Free State XV

Sharks XV:

Tries: Maseko, Zeilinga, Sithole, Marais

Cons: Zeilinga 4

Pens: Zeilinga 2

Free State XV:

Tries: De Klerk, Engelbrecht, Huggett, Ngoza

Cons: De Bruyn 2

Pens: De Bruyn 3

EP Kings 18-43 Western Province

EP Kings:

Tries: Britz, Mbiyozo

Con: Dunlop

Pens: Dunlop 2

Western Province:

Tries: Botha, Cloete 3, Kolbe

Cons:  Swiel 3

Pens: Van Aswegen 3

DG: Van Aswegen.

Leopards XV 47-16 Valke

Leopards XV:

Tries: Uys, Dames, Marais, Olivier, Hanekom 2, Van der Merwe

Cons: Pretorius 6

Valke:

Try: Olivier

Con: Roberts

Pen: Roberts

DG: Juan Kotze