Border continues to set the pace in Women’s Interprovincials

Jul 25 • General News, International • 2130 Views • Comments Off on Border continues to set the pace in Women’s Interprovincials

Defending SA Rugby Women’s Interprovincial champions, Border, continued to set the pace in the A Section of the competition this weekend as they defeated KwaZulu-Natal to remain the only unbeaten team after two rounds.

Border, who secured a hat-trick of Women’s Interprovincial titles last season, kicked off the 2016 season with a 72-3 victory against SWD and built on this with a 27-3 win against KwaZulu-Natal at the BCM Stadium in East London on Saturday.

Western Province and the Blue Bulls, meanwhile, secured their first victories of the season, with Province thumping SWD 51-3 at the Pniel Villagers Rugby Club outside of Stellenbosch, while the Blue Bulls overpowered Eastern Province 38-17 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

In the B Section, the Limpopo Blue Bulls bounced back from their round-one defeat with a 19-15 victory against the Valke at the NWU Vaal Rugby Club in Vanderbijilpark, while the Leopards kicked off their season with a 53-10 victory against the Pumas at Profert Olën Park, Potchefstroom.

In East London, Border worked their way to a 10-3 lead at the break compliments of two tries, and added three more and a conversion after the break to increase their try tally to five for their 27 points. Former Springbok Women’s Sevens player Nosiphiwo Goda touched down twice, while Nwabisa Ngxatu, Zandiswa Xozwa and Eliose Webb each scored once.
In Stellenbosch, meanwhile, a hat-trick by Western Province flanker Asanda Dudumashe and another by wing Asanda Majombozi in the first half allowed them to cruise to a 24-3 lead against SWD. The team built on this display in the second half and ran riot on attack to add five more tries, bringing their total for their match to nine. In turn, SWD were limited to a penalty for their efforts.

The match-up in Pretoria was exciting as the Blue Bulls recovered from a 17-13 half-time deficit against Eastern Province to power their way to victory thanks to a dominant second half in which they scored three tries, two of which were converted, for their 38 points. They supported this with a solid defensive effort to deny the Port Elizabeth side from adding to their score.

In the B Section, meanwhile, the Valke outscored the Limpopo Blue Bulls two tries to one in the first half for a 14-5 lead at the break. The Valke, however, fought back hard and finished the match with three tries complements of centre Zintle James, wing Monica Mazibuko and flanker Makgethi Maleka, to match the Valke’s three tries. However, two successful conversions by the visitors proved to be the difference on the scoreboard.
SA Rugby Women’s Interprovincial round two results (Saturday, 23 July):
A Section:
Western Province 51 – 3 SWD (Pniel Villagers Rugby Club, Stellenbosch)
Border 27 – 3 KZN (BCM Stadium, East London)
Blue Bulls 38 – 17 Eastern Province (Loftus Versfeld B Field, Pretoria)
B Section:
Leopards 53 – 10 Pumas (Profert Olën Park, Potchefstroom)
Valke 15 – 19 Limpopo Blue Bulls (NWU Vaal Rugby Club, Vanderbijilpark)