Spotlight on Windhoek and Polokwane – Vodacom Cup Round 9 Preview
The Leopards XV and Hino Valke will have all to play for when they travel to Windhoek and Polokwane respectively in the final round of Vodacom Cup pool action.
These two sides will be competing to be the final team in the top four of the tightly-contested North Section, with the Xerox Golden Lions, Vodacom Blue Bulls and Steval Pumas already assured of the top three spots on the log.
The Xerox Golden Lions need two log points to go top of the North Section and would like to keep their unbeaten record in-tact when they travel to Welkom to take on the Down Touch Griffons.
It won’t be easy as the Northern Free Staters can still sneak into the top four, but it’s going to take a big win over the Johannesburgers and some other results to go their way.
A bonus-point win on Friday evening in Namibia will be enough to see the Leopards XV through to the top four, but anything less could still leave the door open ever so slightly for the Hino Valke, who will know exactly where they stand when their game against the Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls kicks off in Polokwane on Saturday afternoon.
On the contrary, the South Section is basically decided, with the top four playing against each other as they jockey for final positions – only seven points separate them at the moment.
DHL Western Province, first on 27 points, are at home to the plucky SWD Eagles in Cape Town on Saturday. The 2012 champions will look to stay unbeaten as the quarter-finals loom.
In the other crucial match in the South Section, the Toyota Free State XV can move up to send position if they can beat neighbouring GWK Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon.
Pride is all that is at stake in the final two matches of the season for the EP Kings, at home in Port Elizabeth against the Cell C Sharks XV on Friday evening, and the Border Bulldogs, who host the Boland Cavaliers in Alice on Saturday afternoon.
Rising Star #17 – Ashlon Davids (Xerox Golden Lions)
For 21-year-old Ashlon Davids swapping Malmesbury for the bright lights of Johannesburg after school turned out to be a very good thing.
After representing the Boland Cavaliers at U16, U18 and U19 levels, including playing in the Absa Under-19 Provincial competition while still at Schoonspruit Secondary School, Davids got an opportunity at the Golden Lions and grabbed it with both hands.
A year after representing Boland at the Coca-Cola U18 Craven Week in Kimberley in 2011, Davids was starting at flyhalf for the Golden Lions’ U19s as they went all the way to the semi-finals before crashing out of the competition.
Davids, who is 1.70m tall and weighs around 80kg, continued to move up the ranks in Johannesburg and got his first taste of senior rugby in the Vodacom Cup in 2013.
He scored 21 points in two Vodacom Cup games from flyhalf that season and later in 2013, Davids also played for the Lions U21s. He got a taste of rugby in the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International, playing in all seven matches for Wits last year, but unfortunately missed out on getting more Vodacom Cup caps in 2014 as he was battling injuries.
Although Davids has played almost all of his rugby at flyhalf since moving to the Xerox Golden Lions, he has since played a bit at fullback too, where his tactical awareness and kicking skills came in very handy.
Davids, who has a very good kicking boot and distribution skills, has played in five of the Johannesburgers’ six Vodacom Cup matches, scoring 50 points in the process through two tries, four penalty goals and 14 conversions.
Rising Star #18 – Khaya Majola (Cell C Sharks XV)
Khaya Majola is a born and bred KwaZulu-Natalian, living his dream playing in the black and white jersey and making waves at every level.
He’s also had stints in green and gold though, first for the SA Schools team in 2010 that won all four their matches against France, England and Namibia (twice), and two years later as part of the South African Under-20 side that won the Junior World Championships in Cape Town.
Majola, now 23 years old, was part of a Junior Springbok side featuring future Springbok Test players in Pieter-Steph du Toit, Handré Pollard and Jan Serfontein and although he has not come through the ranks quite as fast as some of his 2012 team-mates, he is making steady progression in Durban.
At 1.85m tall and weighing in at around 100kg, Majola is a specialist opensider who has all the skills needed from a loose forward who never strays far from the action. His path thus far has been pretty straight forward – KZN U16 in 2008, SA Academy team in 2009 and KZN U18 in 2010, when he also made SA Schools.
In 2011 he scored two tries for the Sharks U19s and the next season, a few weeks after his 20th birthday, Majola made his senior debut for the Cell C Sharks XV in the Vodacom Cup against the SWD Eagles. Later in 2012 Majola scored three tries as a regular starter for the Sharks U21s as they just lost out to eventual runners-up Western Province in the semi-finals.
More action in the Vodacom Cup and Absa U21 Provincial Championship followed in 2013 as Majola became a permanent fixture in black and white. It was therefore no surprise when this Westville old boy made his debut in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division last year. He featured seven times for the Cell C Sharks and made his run-on debut against the EP Kings at Growthpoint Kings Park.
Majola has played the full 80 minutes in every one of the Cell C Sharks’ six Vodacom Cup matches thus far this year, bagging five tries in the process, making him the KwaZulu-Natalians’ pre-eminent try scorer of 2015.
The humble Kokstad-born Majola has played a total of 21 matches in the Vodacom Cup for the Cell C Sharks XV and if his constant rise in Durban continues, a first cap at Vodacom Super Rugby level is not far away.
Round 9 fixtures:
Friday, 8 May
Down Touch Griffons v Xerox Golden Lions
Kick-off: 15h00
Venue: HT Pelatona Projects Stadium, Welkom
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
EP Kings v Cell C Sharks XV
Kick-off: 19h00
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
FNB Welwitschias v Leopards XV
Kick-off: 20h00
Venue: Hage Geingob Stadium, Windhoek
Referee: Archie Sehlako
Saturday, 9 May
DHL Western Province v SWD Eagles
Kick-off: 14h45
Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Referee: Linton Lloyd (Scotland)
Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls v Hino Valke
Kick-off: 15h00
Venue: New Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
Referee: Oregopotse Rametsi
GWK Griquas v Toyota Free State XV
Kick-off: 15h00
Venue: GWK Park, Kimberley
Referee: Pro Legoete
Border Bulldogs v Boland Cavaliers
Kick-off: 15h30
Venue: Davidson Rugby Stadium, Alice
Referee: Ben Crouse
Byes: Steval Pumas, Vodacom Blue Bulls
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