Good day out for away teams in First Division

WRAP: It was a weekend to savour for the away teams in the First Division, as the Falcons, Griffons and Eastern Province kept their grip on the top half of the standings, with the semifinals fast moving into view.

The East Randers had too much firepower for the Border Bulldogs in East London and won by 33-15; the Northern Free Staters outlasted the SWD Eagles by 40-31 in George; and the Elephants beat the Leopards by 34-21 in Potchefstroom.

The Falcons scored five tries, four of which were converted by Sergio Stalmeester, in windy conditions at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium to keep their winning run intact against the Border Bulldogs on Friday evening.

The visitors, who scored three converted tries in the first 15 minutes to set the tone, operated from a good platform laid by their pack of forwards, while they also defended very well, especially at the end when they had two players in the sin-bin.

At the same time, 630km to the west at Outeniqua Park, the Griffons started their clash against the SWD Eagles like a house on fire. The visitors scored five tries without reply to lead by 33-0 at the break, with Willem van den Hever (hooker) crossing twice to push his season tally up to seven five-pointers.

Credit to the Eagles, though, they came back very well in the second half and crossed the visitors’ tryline five times to “win” the second stanza by 31-7. Rosco Syster scored two late tries and three conversions for 16 points.

However, a try by Griffons fullback Andrew Kota, who also added five conversions for a personal tally of 15 points, on the hour mark probably sealed the deal for them, although three yellow cards in this period didn’t help their cause.

Four first-half tries set the tone for Eastern Province’s 34-21 victory over the Leopards at Olen Park on Saturday afternoon, with the visitors controlling the encounter from the outset.

Rodney Damons and Deon Plaatjies scored two tries apiece for the Elephants, who will take a lot of confidence from this victory with only two rounds to go before the semi-finals.

The Falcons still lead the race to the playoffs with a perfect 15 points from three games, with the Griffons and EP next in line, both on 11 points. SWD (8) and the Leopards (6) are still very much in the frame to reach the semifinals, and so are the Bulldogs (2), although their chances seem to be slipping away.

Scorers:

Border Bulldogs 15-33 Falcons

For Border:
Tries: Zixesha, Nkonki
Con: Klaasen
Pen: Klaasen

For Falcons:
Tries: Volschenk, Kanenungo, Van der Merwe, April, Wellman
Cons: Stalmeester 4

SWD Eagles 31-40 Griffons

For SWD:
Tries: Royle, Kruger, Syster 2, Weich
Cons: Syster 3

For Griffons:
Tries: Van den Hever 2, Cyster, Eymann, Hollis, Kota
Cons: Kota 5

Leopards 21-34 Eastern Province

For Leopards:
Tries: Prinsloo, Van Reenen, Grobler
Pens: Baxter, Keevy

For Eastern Province:
Tries: Damons 2, Swanepoel, Plaatjies 2, Bantom
Cons: Oliver Zono 2