SWD, Valke book First Division semifinal berths
The SWD Eagles and the Valke on Saturday did enough to shut out the Boland Cavaliers for the last two semifinal spots in the Absa Currie Cup First Division in a thrilling end to the pool stages.
The Leopards will host the Valke in Potchefstroom and the Down Touch Griffons will take on the SWD Eagles in Welkom in the semifinals next weekend.
Interestingly, the semifinals will mark repeats of Saturday’s closing round-robin clashes.
In the weekend’s matches, the Boland Cavaliers defeated the Border Bulldogs 27-6 in Wellington, the Leopards beat the Valke 50-29 in Potchefstroom and the SWD Eagles registered a morale-boosting 42-27 away-win against the Down Touch Griffons in Welkom.
Leopards 50 (19) Valke 29 (17)
The first half between the Leopards and Valke was gripping as both teams put their bodies on the line on attack and defence. Such was the closeness of the half the Leopards and Valke scored three tries a piece despite each receiving a yellow card, but the hosts took a narrow 19-17 half-time lead.
The first 15 minutes of the second half followed the same pattern as Leopards wing Sylvian Mahuza and Valke scrumhalf Anrich Richter earned bonus-point tries for their teams. But the Leopards stamped their authority on attack as the fourth quarter approached thanks to their ability to capitalise on their point-scoring chances, which earned them another four tries to only one by the Valke for an impressive 50 points.
Scorers:
Leopards – Tries: Adri Jacobs, Deon Carney, Dillon Smit (2), Henro-Pierre Swart, Sergio Torrens, Sylvian Mahuza, Penalty Try. Conversions: Ryno Smith (5).
Valke – Tries: Andrew van Tonder, Anrich Richter, Dirk Dippenaar, Jacques Verwey, Penalty Try. Conversions: Jaun Kotze (2).
Down Touch Griffons 27 (8) SWD Eagles 42 (21)
An impressive 17 points by SWD Eagles fullback Elric van Vuuren combined with a fine attacking performance by his team allowed the George side to register a morale-boosting 42-27 victory against the Down Touch Griffons and cement their semifinal berth. The Eagles started the clash strongly with scrumhalf Dwayne Kelly scoring their first try in the 7th minute. The Down Touch Griffons, however, hit back with a penalty by Franna du Toit and a try of their own 13 minutes later. But Kelly again crossed the tryline in the 24thminute followed by Van Vuuren three minutes later to hand the team a 21-8 lead at the break.
The second half was competitive as both teams reaped the rewards for their attacking efforts, with three tries a piece. But SWD’s strong first-half performance handed them the edge on the scoreboard.
Scorers:
Down Touch Griffons – Tries: Chris Ehlers, Tertius Maarman (2), Wynand Pienaar. Conversions: Franna du Toit (2). Penalty: Franna du Toit.
SWD Eagles – Tries: Alwyn Bester, Brian Skosana, Dwayne Kelly (2), Elric van Vuuren, Roy Godfrey. Conversions: Elric van Vuuren (6).
Boland Cavaliers 27 (3) Border Bulldogs 6 (6)
The Boland Cavaliers made the most of their last opportunity to push for a semifinal spot on Friday as they delivered a dominant performance against the Border Bulldogs to register a bonus-point victory. The win allowed them to overtake the SWD Eagles temporarily on the log table on points’ difference, but their hopes of shutting them out for a semifinal berth were shattered on Saturday as SWD defeated the Down Touch Griffons.
The first half was hard-fought as both teams threw everything at each other, which resulted in the teams having to settle for penalties early on. Border fullback Masixole Banda slotted over two penalties within four minutes, while Boland fullback Eric Zana kicked one to trail by three points. The hosts, however, took control in the match in the second half as they maintained their high standards on defence and stepped up their attack, which earned Cheswin Williams, Danwel Demas, Earl Lewis and Ulrich Pretorius tries for their bonus-point victory.
Scorers:
Boland Cavaliers – Tries: Cheswin Williams, Danwel Demas, Earl Lewis, Ulrich Pretorius. Conversions: Eric Zana (2). Penalty: Eric Zana.
Border Bulldogs – Penalties: Masixole Banda (2).
Absa Currie Cup First Division log:
| TEAM |
P |
W |
L |
D |
PF |
PA |
PD |
TF |
TA |
LOSS BONUS |
TRIES BONUS |
POINTS |
| Leopards |
10 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
514 |
254 |
260 |
75 |
32 |
1 |
9 |
42 |
| Down Touch Griffons |
10 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
314 |
330 |
-16 |
41 |
44 |
1 |
7 |
32 |
| SWD Eagles |
10 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
296 |
317 |
-21 |
38 |
39 |
1 |
5 |
30 |
| Valke |
10 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
303 |
323 |
-20 |
40 |
43 |
1 |
5 |
26 |
| Boland Cavaliers |
10 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
275 |
278 |
-3 |
36 |
37 |
3 |
6 |
25 |
| Border Bulldogs |
10 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
211 |
411 |
-200 |
27 |
62 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
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