ABSA Currie Cup First Division Review – Semi-finals
The Regent Boland Cavaliers will host the EP Kings in Absa Currie Cup First Division final in Wellington on Friday at 16:30*.
Both these teams, who finished the league phase of the competition way ahead of the four other teams in the First Division, were comfortable winners in their respective semi-finals on Friday.
The Cavaliers beat the Tasol Solar Griffons by 50-20 at the Boland Stadium, and the Kings, current First Division defending champions, were too good for the Valke and won their semi-final by 48-17 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
In the Absa Under-21 B-Division, Eastern Province beat the Pumas and Border beat Griquas to advance to the final.
The Absa Under-19 B-Division final will be contested by Border (whom beat the Pumas) and the Griffons, who were too strong for the Valke.
Note: Time and date of the finals will be confirmed on www.sarugby.co.za during the week.
Regent Boland Cavaliers 50 (24) Tasol Solar Griffons 20 (13)
For the second time in three weeks Regent Boland Cavaliers flyer Danwell Demas scored four tries in a crucial Absa Currie Cup First Division match to help his side to an important victory.
Demas got four in the crunch game against the EP Kings op 23 September and did the same on Friday as the Cavaliers stormed to the First Division final when they beat the Tasol Solar Griffons by 50-20 in the first semi-final in Wellington.
The Cavaliers ended the match with seven tries – six of them converted by flyhalf Elgar Watts, who also added a try of his own and a penalty goal for a personal contribution of 23 points.
Even though the home team ran away with the game, the Griffons never gave up and scored three tries, however, their defence let them down against the Bolanders’ good attacking play.
The Cavaliers will have to improve their play at the breakdowns ahead of next weekend’s final though, as they conceded numerous on the ground.
Scorers:
Regent Boland Cavaliers – Tries: Danwell Demas (4), Elgar Watts, Thor Halvorsen, Cornal Hendricks. Conversions: Watts (6). Penalty: Watts.
Tasol Solar Griffons – Tries: Nicky Steyn, Japie Nel, Andries Mahoney. Conversion: Reinard Erwee. Penalty: Tiaan van Wyk.
EP Kings 48 (27) Valke 17 (3)
The EP Kings, defending Absa Currie Cup First Division champions, scored six tries en route to a comprehensive 48-17 victory over the Valke in the second semi-final on Friday.
But the Kings will have to improve a lot if they are to successfully defend their title in Wellington next week – the same venue where they lost 49-15 to the Regent Boland Cavaliers two weeks ago.
For the home team, their No 8 Jacques Engelbrecht played a great game, especially on attack, where he scored one of his team’s six tries.
However, unnecessary handling errors will be a concern to the EP Kings a week before the final, while they also conceded a number of penalties at scrums.
The Valke, who snuck into the semi-finals thanks to a late try last week against the Border Bulldogs, were simply not good enough on defence as their season came to an end in Port Elizabeth.
Scorers:
EP Kings – Tries: Bobby Dyer, Jacques Engelbrecht, Norman Nelson, Devin Oosthuizen, SP Marais, Jaco Bekker. Conversions: Louis Strydom (5), George Whitehead. Penalties: Strydom (2).
Valke – Tries: Coert Cronje, Kyle Hendricks. Conversions: Juan Kotze (2). Penalty: Kotze.
Other results:
Absa Under-21 B Division:
Eastern Province 23 Pumas 13 (in Port Elizabeth)
Border 24 Griquas 14 (in East London)
Absa Under-19 B Division:
Border 35 Pumas 33 (in East London)
Griffons 36 Valke 13 (in Welkom)
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