Vodacom Cup Review – Round Four
The Pampas XV continued their unbeaten run in the 2011 Vodacom Cup and secured their fourth victory of the competition following their thrilling 32-29 win over the GWK Griquas in Kimberley.
Man of the match – flyhalf Nicolaas Sanchez slotted six penalties and two conversions to end the match with a personal points’ haul of 22 to steer his team to victory, despite being outscored by four tries to two. It was the first defeat of the season for the GWK Griquas who managed to achieve two bonus points, one for scoring four tries and the other for finishing within seven points of the Argentineans.
Rocco Jansen, Barry Geel, Matthew Dobson and Wilmaure Louw were the try-scorers for the hosts while Earl Rose kicked three conversions and a penalty. The Pampas XV’s five-pointers were scored by Martin Landajo and Bruno Postiglioni.
DHL Western Province consigned the reigning Vodacom Cup champions – Vodacom Blue Bulls – to their fourth consecutive defeat in this year’s competition following their 16-8 win at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Both teams were guilty of conceding numerous unforced errors in this match which produced only two tries. Centre Stephan Dippenaar added a five-pointer for the hosts while Cape scrumhalf Nic Groom scored the game’s other try. Vodacom Blue Bulls pivot Marnitz Boshoff kicked one penalty.
DHL Western Province fullback Lionel Cronjé (58), currently the leading points’ scorer in this season’s Vodacom Cup, continued his excellent form by kicking three penalties while also converting Groom’s try. The victory for the DHL Western Province ensured that they ended round four in third position on the South Section log with 16 points. They are now only one point behind the Pampas XV, and two adrift of the Eastern Province Kings who continued their unbeaten run in the 2011 competition following their comprehensive 51-0 victory over the Valke.
The Sharks XV conceded their first defeat in the 2011 Vodacom Cup after they suffered a 23-15 loss to the Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Toyota Free State Cheetahs notched up their third victory of the season following their 29-13 victory over the Welwitschias in Windhoek, while the Tasol Solar Griffons held on to record their first win of the Vodacom Cup following their 40-38 win over the Boland Cavaliers. Tiaan van Wyk (53) – currently the second leading points’ scorer of the 2011 Vodacom Cup – notched up 20 points by kicking four penalties and four conversions.
The Ford Pumas were in rampant mood in Witbank and ran in 11 tries before outclassing the Border Bulldogs 73-14 on Saturday. In the other Vodacom Cup game of the weekend, the SWD Eagles suffered their third defeat of the competition after going down 47-8 to the Platinum Leopards on Saturday.
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