11 cards, 8 tries: Cavaliers survive wild SA Cup chaos in Wellington

WRAP: Chaos, cards, and carnage dominated proceedings in Wellington, but the Boland Cavaliers still had enough firepower to power past the Griffons 56-23 in a wildly ill-disciplined SA Cup clash on Sunday.

In a match where referee Sean Muller dished out eight yellow cards and three reds, Hawies Fourie’s side shrugged off the constant interruptions to run in eight tries with winger Xavier Mitchell stealing the spotlight with a four-try haul at Boland Stadium.

Defending champions, the Pumas, as well as Griquas and the Boland Kavaliers, all earned second SA Cup wins over the weekend, while SWD Eagles and the Cheetahs opened their accounts on the road.

However, the Leopards, Eastern Province, and Border will have to wait another week for their first successes of the new season.

The Cheetahs defeated the Leopards 64-7 in Potchefstroom on Friday evening to kick off the second-round action, which was followed by the Pumas’ 47-10 success over EP in Nelspruit.

Saturday’s two games went the way of the travelling sides – Griquas earned a 52-15 win over the Falcons in Kempton Park, while the Eagles downed Border 57-22 in East London.

After the second round, Griquas maintained their number one ranking with a better points’ differential than the Cavaliers and Pumas. All three are on 10 log points from two bonus-point wins.

SWD moved up into fourth place on seven points, one more than the Cheetahs on six. The Griffons and Valke follow on five league points each, which is four clear of EP, while Border and Leopards must still get off the mark.

The Cheetahs delivered a commanding performance to overpower the Leopards 64-7 in their clash at Olen Park on Friday evening, for their first victory of the campaign.

The Free Staters surged into a 38-0 halftime lead, built on forward dominance and clinical finishing. The opening half saw the Cheetahs cross the five times through Jandré Nel, George Lourens, Marko Janse van Rensburg – the first of his brace – Cohen Jasper, and Clayton Blommetjies.

Meanwhile, the Pumas treated the Mbombela Stadium crowd to a commanding 47-10 victory over Eastern Province in their Friday evening encounter.

The Griquas put on a clinical eight‑try display to sweep aside the Falcons 52-15 in their Saturday clash in Kempton Park.

The SWD Eagles closed out a lively clash in style, powering past the Border Bulldogs 57-22 at Hudson Park High School in East London on Saturday. What looked like a runaway victory was anything but early on, with Border trailing by only 22-26 at halftime after a fiercely contested first stanza.

In the weekend’s last encounter on Sunday in Wellington, the Boland Kavaliers delighted their home supporters with a commanding 56-23 win over the Griffons.*

*Find all the scores and scorers below…

Leopards 7-64 Cheetahs

The scorers:

For Leopards:
Try: Ndudula
Con: Burger

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Janse van Rensburg 2, Nel, Lourens, Jasper, Blommetjies, Sekekete, Jansen van Vuren, Nieuwoudt, Penalty Try
Cons: Jasper 4, Makhaza 2

Pumas 47-10 Eastern Province

The scorers:

For Pumas:
Tries: Fisanti 3, Kota, Xamlashe, Wellman, Osuagwu
Cons: Swart 4, Visagie 2

For EP:
Try: Mapuko
Con: Mapuko
Pen: April

Falcons 15-52 Griquas

The scorers:

For Falcons:
Tries: Payi, Van der Merwe
Con: Sefoor
Pen: Sefoor

For Griquas:
Tries: Mahoney 3, Hufke, Lange, Zwelendaba, De Witt, Oosthuizen
Cons: Koen 4, Whitehead 2

Border Bulldogs 22-57 SWD Eagles

The scorers:

For Border:
Tries: Lali, Zitha, Pantyo
Cons: Mbini 2
Pen: Mbini

For SWD:
Tries: Pretorius 2, Van Wyk 2, Venter, Janse van Vuuren, Cyster, Sekele, Penalty Try
Cons: Zeilinga 5

Boland Cavaliers 56-23 Griffons

The scorers:

For Boland:
Tries: Mitchell 4, Tobias 2, Mafu, Smit
Cons: Mostert 7, Williams

For Griffons:
Try: Van Zyl, Penalty Try
Con: Johannes
Pen: Schaefer 3