Vodacom Cup: Northern dominance

 

The unbeaten Western Province will be the South Section’s sole representative in the top four next weekend after the Pumas upset the defending champions, Griquas, at GWK Park in Kimberley on Friday evening.

 

The visitors from the Lowveld won 28-14 and outscored the five-time champions by three tries to two in a match that came alight in the second half.

 

Western Province, champions in 2012, beat the Leopards XV by 47-22 at City Park in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Golden Lions were made to work extremely hard in their quarterfinal against the SWD Eagles at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon, with the visitors from George scoring three tries to the 2013 champions’ two, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

 

The fourth quarterfinal was a rather one-sided affair at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening, where the Blue Bulls beat the Free State XV by 44-21, with William Small-Smith dotting down three times for the three-time champions from Pretoria.

 

 

Blue Bulls flyhalf Tian Schoeman scored 22 points and centre William Small-Smith added a hat-trick of tries to guide the men from Pretoria to a 44-21 victory over the Free State XV in their Vodacom Cup quarterfinal at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday night.

 

The Blue Bulls led 17-9 at half-time and set the tempo of the match from the opening exchanges, but it was the visitors from the Free State who scored first through a penalty goal by flyhalf Willie du Plessis.

 

The home team scored two tries in the first half and followed that up with three more after the break as they took control of the match to qualify for their 13th semifinal in the Vodacom Cup.

 

 

Tries: Liebenberg, Small-Smith 3, Schoeman

Cons: Schoeman 4, Marais

Pens: Schoeman 3

 

Tries: Engelbrecht, Olivier

Con: Marais 

Pens: Du Plessis 3

 

 

Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 JP Smith, 8 Clyde Davids, 7 Nardus van der Walt, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg, 5 Marvin Orie (captain), 4 Nqubeko Zulu, 3 Andrew Beerwinkel, 2 Arno van Wyk, 1 Basil Short.

Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 19 Roelof Smit, 20 Kefentse Mahlo, 21 Kobus Marais, 22 Marquit September.

 

Free State: 15 Ludwig Erasmus, 14 Sino Ganto, 13 Nicolaas Lee, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht (captain), 11 Maphutha Dolo, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Nhlanhla Hlongwane, 8 Thato Ngoza, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Armand du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Dolph Botha, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Caylib Oosthuizent.

Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Gunther Janse van Vuuren, 18 Zingisa April, 19 Wayven Smith, 20 Renier Botha, 21 Niel Marais, 22 Alvin Brandt.

 

Referee: Boneparte Rodney

Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Renier Vermeulen

TMO: Willie Vos

 

 

The Pumas booked their spot in the semifinals of this year’s Vodacom Cup competition by beating the Griquas 28-14 at GWK Park in Kimberley on Friday evening.

 

The hosts were rated as slight favourites for the game, but in the end it was the try scoring ability of the men from the Lowveld along with the kicking boot of flyhalf JC Roos that helped the visiting side from Nelspruit progress to the semis.

 

Pumas coach MJ Mentz and his side will take much heart and confidence from their performance in Kimberley against the defending champions. 

 

 

Tries: Kamanga, Le Roux

Cons: Dean Grant 2

 

Tries: Botha, Fraser, Herbst 

Cons: Roos 2 

Pens: Roos 3

 

 

Griquas: 15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Ntabeni Dukisa, 13 Ederies Arendse, 12 PJ Vermeulen, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Jono Janse van Rensburg, 7 RJ Liebenberg, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Hugo Kloppers (captain), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.

Replacements: 16 AJ Le Roux, 17 Wiseman Kamanga, 18 Stephan Malan, 19 Sidney Tobias, 20 Abraham Griesel, 21 Clinton Swart, 22 Gouws Prinsloo.

 

Pumas: 15 JW Bell, 14 Bernardo Botha, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer (captain), 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 JC Roos, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Jason-Collin Fraser, 7 Lambert Groenewald, 6 Uzair Cassiem, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 DJ Terblanche, 2 Jacques Momberg, 1 Khwezi Mona.

Replacements: 16 Marnus Schoeman, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 Eduan Van Der Walt, 19 Brian Shabangu, 20 Johan Herbst, 21 Justin van Staden, 22 Wilmaure Louw.

 

Referee: Lourens van der Merwe

Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Khotos Raleting

 

 

The Golden Lions overturned a 14-10 half-time deficit to book a place in the semifinal of the Vodacom Cup, courtesy of a 29-21 victory over the visiting SWD Eagles at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon.

 

The hosts had raced into a 10-0 lead but despite being down to 14 men, the Eagles rallied and dotted down twice late in the first half to take an unexpected lead after 40 minutes. 

 

The Golden Lions quickly overturned this deficit to lead by 20-14 after 47 minutes, but the Eagles came back once again and led 21-20 after a second try by Kirsten Heyns.

 

But Marnitz Boshoff’s boot had the final say with three penalty goals in the final 25 minutes. The Golden Lions will have to sort out their scrum ahead of the semifinal meeting next week, but look a good bet to progress to the finals if they can continue their current form.

 

 

Tries: Nel, Hanekom

Cons: Boshoff 2 

Pens: Boshoff 4 

DG: Boshoff

 

Tries: Heyns 2, Du Toit

Cons: Van Vuuren 3

 

 

Golden Lions: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Damian Engledoe, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Stokkies Hanekom, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ricky Schroeder (captain), 8 Jano Venter, 7 Ruaan Lerm, 6 Stephan de Wit, 5 Lourens Erasmus, 4 Bobby De Wee, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Mark Pretorius, 1 Dylan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Tyson Mulamba, 18 Jean-Pierre Du Preez, 19 Ruan Ackermann, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 Mark Richards, 22 Kobus de Kock.

 

SWD Eagles: 15 Elric van Vuuren, 14 Clinton Wagman, 13 Kirsten Heyns, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Dwayne Kelly, 8 Zandre Jordaan, 7 Davon Raubenheimer (captain), 6 Janneman Stander, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Kurt Haupt, 1 Marius Fourie.

Replacements: 16 Wayne Khan, 17 Raoul Larson, 18 Alwyn Bester, 19 Andisa Ntsila, 20 Christo Du Plessis, 21 Leighton Eksteen, 22 Gerrit Smith.

 

Referee: Oregopotse Rametsi

Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Stephan Geldenhuys

TMO: Johan Greeff

 

 

Justin Benn grabbed a brace of tries as Western Province advanced to the Vodacom Cup semifinals courtesy of a 47-22 (half-time 21-19) win over the Leopards XV at City Park in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.

 

Flank Benn scored a try in each half, with the home team running in seven tries in total, as their strong performance after the break blew the gallant Leopards XV away. The Capetonians “won” the second half by 26-3.

 

Amazingly enough it was the first time ever that Western Province managed to beat the team from North West in a home Vodacom Cup match. The men in the blue and white hoops will host the Blue Bulls in their semifinal.

 

 

Tries: Masimla, Benn 2, Du Preez, Taute, Tsomondo, Viljoen 

Cons: Du Plessis 6

 

Tries: Torrans 2, Rhyno Smith 

Cons: Engelbrecht 2 

Pen: Engelbrecht

 

 

Western Province: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Tshotsho Mbovane, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Robert du Preez, 11 JP Lewis, 10 Jean-Luc Du Plessis, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Rayn Smid, 7 Justin Benn, 6 Tapiwa Tsomondo, 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Michael Willemse (captain), 1 Alistair Vermaak.

Replacements: 16 Charlton van Jaarsveld 17 Sithembiso Sithole, 18 Etienne Swanepoel, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 Justin Phillips, 21 Patrick Howard, 22 William Ndayara.

 

Leopards: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Sergio Torrens, 13 Rowayne Beukman, 12 Johan Deysel, 11 Adri Jacobs, 10 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Juan Language (captain), 7 Henro-Pierre Swart, 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 5 Francois Robertse, 4 Loftus Morrison, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson, 2 Dane van der Westhuyzen, 1 Johan Smith.

Replacements: 16 Wian Fourie, 17 Devon Martinus, 18 Molotsi Bouwer, 19 Jaco Jordaan, 20 Malherbe Swart, 21 Kobus du Plessis, 22 Myburgh Briers.

 

Referee: Jaco Kotze

Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman, Francois Pretorius

 

Vodacom Cup semifinals (date and kick-off TBC):

Golden Lions v Pumas – Johannesburg

Western Province v Blue Bulls – Cape Town

 

96 – JC Roos (Pumas – two tries, 19 cons, 16 pens)

80 – Elric van Vuuren (SWD Eagles – 16 cons, 16 pens)

79 – Kobus Marais (Blue Bulls – two tries, 21 cons, nine pens)

64 – Jean-Luc du Plessis (Western Province – 14 cons, 12 pens)

63 – Jaun Kotze (Falcons – one try, 23 cons, four pens)