EP vs Border women’s preview

Aug 28 • General News • 1535 Views • Comments Off on EP vs Border women’s preview

EASTERN Province face one of their toughest challenges of the season when they meet the high-riding Border side in the SARU Women’s Interprovincial tournament at NMMU’s Missionvale Campus in Port Elizabeth on Saturday (August 29).

With fine attacking play and a solid defence, Border have already secured the top spot on the log, as well as a home final on September 12 after claiming bonus-point victories in their first four matches.
They will draw confidence from their form this season, but will be wary of an EP line-up who have proved competitive this season, despite picking up only one win so far. The home side are coming off an encouraging 60-0 victory against SWD, but know they will have to perform at their best to handle the Border juggernaut.
Their defence, in particular, will have to be water-tight to keep alive hopes of a victory as Border have scored an impressive 29 tries in their first four matches.
Western Province and the Blue Bulls will have everything to play for when they meet in Pretoria in the final pool round as they go head-to-head for a berth in the final.
The Blue Bulls are in second place on 13 points and WP have 11 points, so whoever wins on Saturday will qualify for the final, while a draw will favour the Bulls.
Interestingly both sides are coming off defeats, with Western Province having lost two matches in a row. This should fire them up for today’s clash while the Bulls will be aiming to draw on homeground advantage to secure their spot in the final.
The Blue Bulls have won three of their four matches this season and the Cape side two, while the Pretoria side’s attack and defence have been marginally better. The Bulls have scored 12 tries and conceded seven, while WP have scored 11 and conceded 10.
In the remaining match, SWD, who have yet to win a match this season, will be up against KwaZulu-Natal at Outeniqua Park in George.

The A section fixtures are: Eastern Province vs Border, NMMU Missionvale Campus at 15.00; Blue Bulls vs Western Province, Pretoria at 15.00; SWD vs KwaZulu-Natal, Outeniqua Park, George at 16.00.