Leading teams surge further ahead as they rack up big points

WRAP: The leading trio of Griquas, Pumas, and Griffons maintained their unbeaten run with good victories in the third round of the SA Cup

The Falcons and Eastern Province were in good form as the Boland Cavaliers and Cheetahs lost further ground on the top four.

In the weekend’s action, Griquas overpowered Border Bulldogs 118-3 in East London, the Pumas were too strong for the Cheetahs in Nelspruit with 46-38 victory and the Griffons sealed a 79-10 triumph over the Leopards in Welkom.

The Falcons showed their determination to outmuscle Boland Cavaliers 43-26 in Kempton Park to move up to fourth on the log, and EP scored a morale-boosting 39-26 away win over the SWD Eagles in George.

After three rounds, the defending champions, Griquas, the Pumas and Griffons are unbeaten on 15 points.

The holders have a better points difference, placing them first, followed by the men from Mpumalanga in second and the team from Welkom in third.

They are followed by Falcons in fourth on 10 points. Boland Cavaliers are fifth on eight points, one more than the Cheetahs in sixth. Eastern Province (seventh) and the SWD Eagles follow with six points each, while Border (one) and the Leopards (zero) prop up the log.

Arguably one of the best performances of the weekend belonged to the Valke with their 43-26 victory over the Cavaliers at the Barnard Stadium, inflicting a second successive away defeat for the Bolanders and winning their second clash on the bounce after outscoring their visitors by six tries to four.

JP Immelman’s team had a good start and created numerous scoring opportunities to build a 26-7 lead after 25 minutes before the Cavaliers fought back to score three tries themselves to reduce the halftime deficit to 26-21.

The Cavaliers were guilty of conceding numerous penalties and their struggles in the second half were compounded by a yellow card to Michael Benadie (lock). The Falcons capitalised on their numerical advantage by scoring twice in 10 minutes, through Abulele Ndabambi (No 8), to effectively take the game away from the visitors.

Falcons wing Valentino Wellman also scored twice, while flyhalf Keagan Fortune slotted five conversions and a penalty goal. Prolific Boland Cavaliers wing Lunathi Nxele scored two tries and pivot Garth April added three conversions.

Saturday’s other game, played in Potchefstroom, saw the Griffons score 13 times in their 79-10 dismantling of the Leopards. After Charles Williams had opened the scoring with an early penalty goal for the hosts, the Welkom visitors kicked into gear by scoring six tries to build a 34-3 halftime advantage, which included a hat trick of tries by inside centre Jandre de Beer, who added one more in the second half to cap a fine individual performance.

The visitors completely dominated the Leopards in the second stanza and used their abundance of possession to score seven more times while restricting the hosts to just one, by scrumhalf Sylvester Hassien.

Fullback Kyle Cyster and loose forward Thomas Ongera each contributed two tries for the winning side, while Andrew Kota (left wing) and Aphiwe Stemele (replacement flyhalf) also joined in the action by adding 11 points each to the winning score through a try and three conversions.

On Friday, the Pumas maintained their winning start by scoring a deserved 46-38 victory over the Cheetahs in Nelspruit. The hosts held a slender 26-24 lead at halftime, but it was a different story in the second half.

The first 40 minutes was a thrilling affair, with the Free Staters opening the score through Neels Volschenk following a lineout maul, which was followed shortly by almost an identical try for the Pumas when Ntsika Fisanti was driven over. The visitors added another converted try through Carl Wegner and a Cohen Jasper penalty goal.

But the hosts then started to hit their straps during which time they managed three more tries through Clinton Swart, Wian van Niekerk, and Darren Adonis, with Swart adding the extras.

Ali Mgijima went over for the Cheetahs’ third converted try of the half, which gave the hosts a two-point halftime lead, but the visitors started the second half very well with tries by Louis van der Westhuizen and then Michael Annies.

However, after that the home side took control as they responded with three tries, two by Jay Cee Nel and another by Ross Braude, to hand the Pumas a comfortable victory.

Earlier on Friday, Griquas overwhelmed the Border Bulldogs by 118-3 in East London, with the defending champions relentless as they ran in 18 tries whilst restricting the Bulldogs to a single penalty goal in the first half.

In a one-sided affair, the team from Kimberley raced into a 45-3 halfway lead courtesy of seven converted tries, while they continued their dominance in the second stanza by dotting down 11 more times.

Dylan Maart (loose forward) and Gustav du Rand (prop) each helped themselves to three tries, Thomas Bursey (scrumhalf) contributed seven conversions and George Whitehead (flyhalf) six. The standout performance was delivered by Gurshwin Wehr (left wing), who managed four tries and a conversion to earn him the Player of the Match accolade.

In Friday’s third fixture, Eastern Province gained their first win when they outplayed the SWD Eagles 39-26 in George, scoring five tries to four in the process.

The first half at Outeniqua Park was even with both teams scoring twice, and only the penalty goal kick of Christian Humphries proving the difference as EP led by three points at the break.

Marco Fuhri opened the scoring for the hosts midway through the opening spell with a converted try, but EP hit back five minutes later to level matters. The Eagles regained the lead when Damon Royle went over for their second, but Humphries kept the Elephants in touching distance with his penalty goal (14-10). Despite a yellow card to CJ Velleman, EP kept their composure to go 17-14 ahead at halftime through JJ Scheepers’ try.

EP increased their lead to 32-14 courtesy of converted tries by Siya Nzuzo and Deon Plaatjies before Velleman was shown a red card not long after returning to the field.

However, Masikane Mazwi scored try number five for the Elephants and the Eagles could only reply with two late consolation tries. Humphries played a key role and contributed 14 points to EP’s winning cause with his four conversions and two penalty goals.

In next week’s round four action, the Griffons host Griquas in Welkom, Border welcome the Leopards to East London, SWD travel to Wellington where they will face Boland, EP entertain the Cheetahs in Gqeberha, and the Valke are at home against the Pumas in Kempton Park.

All the scores and scorers below:

Falcons 43-26 Boland Cavaliers

Scorers:

Falcons:
Tries: Wellman 2, Ndabambi 2, Alexander, Payi
Cons: Fortune 5
Pen: Fortune

Boland:
Tries: Tobias, Nxele 2, Benadie
Cons: April 3

Teams:

Falcons: 15 Mbembe Payi, 14 Valentino Wellman, 13 Musa Tshabalala, 12 Waqar Solaan, 11 Ezrick Alexander, 10 Keagan Fortune, 9 Wernich Aucamp, 8 Abulele Ndabambi, 7 Godfrey Muzanargwo, 6 Kelvin Kanenungo, 5 Andrew Volschenk, 4 Eddie Evans, 3 Thabo Ntunja, 2 Pierre Rabie, 1 Kayden Kiewit
Replacements: 16 Joshua Eras, 17 Lindokuhle Seteni, 18 Blaine Golden, 19 Mihlali Stamper, 20 Zingisa April, 21 Zander van der Merwe, 22 Liam Kloosman, 23 Zeilinga Strydom

Cavaliers: 15 Domenic Smit, 14 Duren Hoffman, 13 Xavier Mitchell, 12 Cornal Hendricks (vice captain), 11 Lunathi Nxele, 10 Garth April, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Thurlow Marsh (captain), 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Sauliegh Arendse, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Micheal Benadie, 3 Doctor Booysen, 2 Sidney Tobias, 1 Wayrin Losper.
Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Sibusiso Sangweni, 20 Gift Dlamini, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 James Tedder, 23 Jurick Lewis.

Referee: Paul Mente

Leopards 10-79 Griffons

Scorers:

Leopards:
Try: Hassien
Con: Andre Grobler
Pen: Williams

Griffons:
Tries: De Beer 4, Cyster 2, Ongera 2, Gora, Stemele, Olivier, Hollis, Stemele, Kota
Cons: Pretorius, Kota 3, Stemele 3

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Lwandile Mapuko, 14 Sino Tshontyi, 13 Bryan Breda, 12 Mihlali Nchukana (vice-captain), 11 Clyde Lewis, 10 Charles Williams, 9 Sylvester Hassien, 8 Gcino Mdletshe, 7 Ghudian van Reenen, 6 Uzile Tele, 5 Chris van Heerden, 4 Lood Prins, 3 Ig Prinsloo (captain), 2 Jason Alexander, 1 Tatenda Chayayi.
Replacements: 16 Liyema Mgwigwi, 17 Dima Lebelo, 18 Haitembu Shikufa, 19 Imaad Phillips, 20 Arminn Posthumus, 21 Eben Verster, 22 Chadd Adams, 23 André Grobler.

Griffons: 15 Kyle Cyster, 14 Keanu Vers, 13 Chris Hollis, 12 Jandre de Beer, 11 Qamani Kota, 10 Duan Pretorius, 9 Richman Gora, 8 Calla Pienaar, 7 Thomas Ongera, 6 Jared Kruger, 5 Matt Gray, 4 Curtly Thomas, 3 Buhle Nojekwa, 2 Willem van den Hever, 1 Simon Westraadt
Replacements: 16 Chadley Wenn, 17 Xolani Jacobs, 18 Mthokozisi Gumede, 19 Lungi Mbiko, 20 Rian Olivier, 21 Ulrich Stander, 22 Aphiwe Stemela, 23 Quan Eymann, 24 Joshua Paris, 25 Mingo Piti, 26 Julin Samuels

Referee: Hernus Coetzee

Pumas 46-38 Cheetahs

Scorers:

Pumas:
Tries: Nel 2, Braude, Adonis, Van Niekerk, Fisanti, Swart
Cons: Swart 3, Visagie
Pen: Visagie

Cheetahs:
Tries: Wegner, Mgijima, Volschenk, Van der Westhuizen, Annies Cons: Jasper 5
Pen: Jasper

Teams:

Pumas: 15 Jaycee Nel, 14 Stefan Coetzee, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Darren Adonis, 10 Clinton Swart, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Kwanda Dimaza, 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 Jeandre Leonard, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Jan-Henning Campher, 1 Etiene Janeke.
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Claassen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Eduan Swart, 19 Hanno Theunissen, 20 Andre Fouche, 21 Conor van Eden, 22 Danrich Visagie, 23 Lundi Msenge.

Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Raegan Oranje, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Litha Nkula, 10 George Lourens, 9 Jandre Nel, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Pierre Uys, 6 Neels Volschenk, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen (captain), 1 Hencus van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Matome Manyama, 18 Frankie dos Reis, 19 Pieter Janse van Vuuren, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sisonke Vumazonke, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Jooste Nel

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys

Border Bulldogs 3-118 Griquas

Scorers:

Border:
Pen: Klaasen

Griquas:
Tries: Wehr 4, Maart 3, Du Rand 3, Makata 2, Delport 2, Khethani, Smit, De Witt, Mahoney
Cons: Bursey 7, Whitehead 6, Wehr

Scorers:

Teams:

Border Bulldogs: TBC

Griquas: 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Sako Makata, 13 Mnombon Zwelendaba, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Dylan Sjoblom, 4 Athenkosi Khetani, 3 Cebo Dlamini, 2 Gustav du Rand, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Dandré Delport, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Corné Weilbach, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Stephan Smit, 21 Carl Els, 22 Bobby Alexander, 23 Dylan Maart.

Referee: Dylen November

SWD Eagles 26-39 Eastern Province

Scorers:

SWD:
Tries: Fuhri, Royle, Basson, Kruger.
Cons: Toring 2, Abrahams

EP:
Tries: Nzuzo, Scheepers, Cupido, Mazwi, Plaatjies.
Cons: Humphries 4
Pens: Humphries 2

Teams:

Eagles: 15 Braam Abrahams, 14 Rosco Syster, 13 Clive Kruger, 12 Edwin Sass (co-captain), 11 Mpho Ntsane, 10 Marlo Weich, 9 Sachin Toring, 8 Marquit September, 7 Dian Basson, 6 Damon Royle (co-captain), 5 Mncedisi Diwengu, 4 Liam Tattersall, 3 Stefaan Grundlingh, 2 Marco Fuhri, 1 Haggard Cole.
Replacements: 16 Wayne Khan, 17 Tandolwetu Matolengwe, 18 Hlomla Zondani, 19 Cecil Rittels, 20 Ethan Stuurman, 21 Stone Cloete, 22 Quaid Langeveldt, 23 Jordan Beukes.

Eastern Province: 15 Jayden Bantom, 14 Rodney Damons, 13 Sherwin Slater, 12 Troy Delport, 11 JD Jooste, 10 Chris Humphries, 9 Shirwin Cupido, 8 Athi Manetsa, 7 Laken Gray, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 JJ Scheepers, 4 Stefan Willemse (captain), 3 Zukisa Sali, 2 Deon Plaatjies, 1 Siyakubonga Nzuzo.
Replacements: 16 Masikane Mazwi, 17 Andile Ngonyama, 18 Arno Gustafson, 19 Hannes Huisamen, 20 Diego Williams, 21 Wayne Ngubane, 22 Chadwyn November, 23 Ayabonga Oliphant.

Referee: Jonathan Lottering