North rule the roost
It was three from four for teams from the north, but the undoubted highlight of the Vodacom Cup quarterfinal round was the Blue Bulls’ stunning last-gasp win over the Sharks XV in Durban on Saturday.
Western Province will host the Pumas in Cape Town and the Blue Bulls will travel to Kimberley to take on Griquas in next weekend’s two Vodacom Cup semifinals as these four teams emerged victorious from their quarterfinals this weekend.
The Blue Bulls, last season’s runners up, won a humdinger in Durban when they scored two converted tries in the last four minutes of the match to clinch a thrilling 37-36 victory over the Sharks XV.
With less than three minutes left on the clock, the visitors were behind by 36-23, replacement wing Chris Jordaan’s try in the 73rd minute seemingly sealing the win for the KwaZulu-Natalians. But the Blue Bulls didn’t give up, especially when Sharks XV hooker Kyle Cooper was sin-binned. First fullback Ulrich Beyers crashed over and SA Under-20 flyhalf Tony Jantjies quickly added the extras.
Then the Blue Bulls took the restart and started attacking from deep in their own half when another SA Under-20 player, midfielder Jan Serfontein, outstripped the Sharks XV defence to score alongside the posts. Another two points by Jantjies, under immense pressure, sealed an unlikely win for the visitors.
In Saturday’s second match, unbeaten Western Province had way to much fire power for the Golden Lions as they won this quarterfinal by 58-34 at City Park in Cape Town. The home team scored eight tries to the four of the visitors.
WP fullback Kurt Coleman got a hat-trick for his team, while opensider Rohan Kitshoff added a brace. It’s only the third time ever that the Capetonians have reached the semifinals of the Vodacom Cup – and on both previous occasions (in 2000 and 2008) they got knocked out before the final.
On Friday in Kimberley, the defending Vodacom Cup champions, the Pampas XV, crashed out against Griquas by 26-18.
Griquas fullback Rudi Vogt scored 21 points through seven penalty goals as the Argentineans’ discipline let them down at Park.
The home team though had to withstand a strong fightback from the Pampas XV – they lead 23-6 with less than 30 minutes to go, but then the visitors launched a strong comeback and actually closed the gap to only five points before Vogt put the result beyond any doubt with his seventh penalty goal in the 70th minute.
The Pumas progressed to the semifinals on Friday when they beat an injury depleted EP Kings side by 30-19 at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
The team from Mpumalanga never looked like losing and outscored the visitors from the Eastern Cape by four tries to one. The Pumas were simply too physical and solid on defence, while they also used their opportunities better.
* The dates, times and venues for the two semifinal matches will be confirmed by the South African Rugby Union in due course.
All the scores and scorers:
Griquas 26-18 Pampas XV:
Scorers:
Griquas:
Try: Rhynardt Landman
Pens: Rudi Vogt 7
Pampas XV:
Tries: Gabriel Ascarate, Benjamin Madero
Con: Madero
Pens: Madero 2
Pumas 30-19 EP Kings:
Scorers:
Pumas:
Tries: Ashley Buys, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Jaco Bouwer, Corne Fourie
Cons: JC Roos 2
Pens: Roos 2
EP Kings:
Try: SP Marais
Con: Justin van Staden
Pens: Van Staden 4
Sharks XV 36-37 Blue Bulls:
Scorers:
Sharks XV:
Tries: Francois Kleinhans, Sibusiso Sithole, Chris Jordaan
Cons: Gouws Prinsloo 3
Pens: Prinsloo 5
Blue Bulls:
Tries: Gerrit-Jan van Velze, Courtnall Skosan, Ulrich Beyers, Jan Serfontein
Cons: Wesley Dunlop 2, Tony Jantjies 2
Pens: Dunlop 2
DG: Beyers
WP 58-34 Golden Lions:
Scorers:
WP:
Tries: Kurt Coleman 3, Rohan Kitshoff 2, Hilton Lobberts, Nick Fenton-Wells, Quinn Roux, Tyrone Holmes
Cons: Demetri Catrakilis 5
Pen: Catrakilis
Golden Lions:
Tries: Francois du Toit, Garth April, JR Esterhuizen, Robert de Bruyn
Cons: Guy Cronje 4
Pens: Cronje 2
