Vodacom Cup Preview – Quarter-finals
The winner of the 15th Vodacom Cup will be crowned in a few weeks’ time, but this weekend quarter-final action takes place in Kimberley, Nelspruit, Durban and Cape Town.
Interestingly, seven from last year’s eight quarter-finalists are back, the only team not making it this year being the Toyota Free State XV. They have been “replaced” in the 2012 playoffs by the EP Kings, who missed out last year after they were docked points for fielding two ineligible players.
The Sharks XV, second in the South Section after winning five from seven, will have their work cut out for them when they host the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Vodacom Cup quarter-final round at Mr Price Kings Park in Durban on Saturday afternoon at 14:00.
The Pretorians, who ended third in the North Section with four wins, one draw and one defeat, have been superb in Vodacom Cup playoffs, reaching the final every year since 2006, when the Sharks XV, then still called the Wildebeest, lost in the final to the Valke in Brakpan.
In the history of the competition, the Vodacom Blue Bulls have won the title three times, finished runners up six times, lost in the semi-finals once and lost in the quarter-finals once as well.
On the contrary, the KwaZulu-Natalians have only reached one final and lost in five semi-finals and one quarter-final.
Although they have lost three from the last five finals, but the Vodacom Blue Bulls know how to win playoffs. This was perfectly illustrated last year, when they almost went all the way after finishing fourth in the North Section.
In the end, the Pampas XV had too much fire power for the Vodacom Blue Bulls to take their maiden Vodacom Cup title by winning the final by 14-9 in Potchefstroom.
The Argentineans have to travel to Kimberley, where the face GWK Griquas, along with the MTN Golden Lions the most successful Vodacom Cup team ever with four titles. This is the first quarter-final of the weekend and is scheduled for 15:00 at GWK Park on Friday.
GWK Griquas won the North Section (five wins and one defeat), while the Pampas XV struggled to replicate their 2011 form and finished fourth in the South, winning four and losing three league matches. In their 10 playoff appearances, the team from the Northern Cape have only lost in the quarter-finals once before.
The top side in the South Section and the only unbeaten team thus far this year with seven victories from seven matches, DHL Western Province, will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s quarter-finals when they host the MTN Golden Lions at City Park in Crawford on Saturday at 15:30.
In 2011, the Capetonians lost their home quarter-final against the Sharks XV by 21-19. They have only reached the semi-finals twice and lost four quarter-finals, but this year DHL Western Province will be looking to go all the way.
The MTN Golden Lions have not had things go their way in 2012 and they finished fourth in the North Section, having won three of their six league matches.
While the Capetonians will take to the field as favourites, they will be mindful of the MTN Golden Lions’ solid playoff record, even though the Gautengers have not gone further than the quarter-finals since winning the last of their four titles way back in 2004.
On Friday evening in Nelspruit, the two quarter-finalists that have the worst playoff record of all the teams that qualified this year, the Ford Pumas and the EP Kings, will square off.
Between them, they have only reached the Vodacom Cup playoffs four times – the Kings have lost both their quarter-final appearances, while the Ford Pumas have lost one quarter- and one semi-final. The Kings’ playoff record would’ve been better if it wasn’t for last year’s ineligibility debacle.
The Ford Pumas finished second in the North Section by virtue of getting two more bonus points than the Vodacom Blue Bulls as they also won four, lost one and drew one in 2012. The Kings’ record this season reads won five, lost two and they finished third in the South.
Vodacom Cup Fixtures – Quarter-finals
Friday, May 4 2012
GWK Griquas v Pampas XV
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: GWK Park, Kimberley
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
Ford Pumas v EP Kings
Kick-off: 19:10
Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Saturday, May 5 2012
Sharks XV v Vodacom Blue Bulls
Kick-off: 14:00
Venue: Mr Price Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Lourens van der Merwe
DHL Western Province v MTN Golden Lions
Kick-off: 15:30
Venue: City Park, Crawford
Referee: Ben Crouse
Vodacom Cup Top Points’ Scorers 2012
(more than 30 points this season)
| Player | Team |
Tries |
Conv |
Pen |
Drops |
Tot |
| Gouws Prinsloo | Sharks XV |
3 |
19 |
20 |
0 |
113 |
| JC Roos | Ford Pumas |
0 |
21 |
16 |
0 |
90 |
| Demetri Catrakilis | DHL Western Province |
0 |
7 |
23 |
1 |
86 |
| Rudi Vogt | GWK Griquas |
2 |
18 |
13 |
0 |
85 |
| Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias | Pampas XV |
1 |
11 |
11 |
2 |
66 |
| Ntabeni Dukisa | Border Bulldogs |
0 |
9 |
15 |
0 |
63 |
| Juan Kotze | Valke |
2 |
11 |
9 |
0 |
59 |
| André Pretorius | Leopards |
0 |
12 |
9 |
1 |
54 |
| Elric van Vuuren | SWD Eagles |
3 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
52 |
| Justin van Staden | Eastern Province Kings |
0 |
5 |
13 |
1 |
52 |
| Elgar Watts | Regent Boland Kavaliers |
0 |
17 |
5 |
0 |
49 |
| Benjamin Madero | Pampas XV |
1 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
45 |
| Nico Scheepers | Toyota Free State XV |
3 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
42 |
| Scott van Breda | Eastern Province Kings |
4 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
38 |
| Marais Schmidt | MTN Golden Lions |
1 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
37 |
| Tony Jantjies | Vodacom Blue Bulls |
1 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
37 |
| Guy Cronje | MTN Golden Lions |
0 |
8 |
7 |
0 |
37 |
| Wesley Dunlop | Vodacom Blue Bulls |
0 |
12 |
4 |
0 |
36 |
| Noel Oelschig | Eastern Province Kings |
0 |
5 |
8 |
0 |
34 |
| Jaco Bouwer | Ford Pumas |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
30 |
| Coenie van Wyk | Ford Pumas |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
30 |
| Anthony Volmink | MTN Golden Lions |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
30 |
| Riaan Smit | Toyota Free State XV |
1 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
30 |
| Ricardo Croy | Regent Boland Kavaliers |
0 |
3 |
8 |
0 |
30 |
Vodacom Cup Previous Winners:
1998: GWK Griquas
1999: MTN Golden Lions
2000: Toyota Free State Cheetahs
2001: Vodacom Blue Bulls
2002: MTN Golden Lions
2003: MTN Golden Lions
2004: MTN Golden Lions
2005: GWK Griquas
2006: Valke
2007: GWK Griquas
2008: Vodacom Blue Bulls
2009: GWK Griquas
2010: Vodacom Blue Bulls
2011: Pampas XV
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