Weekend of home wins in Currie Cup
It was a weekend of home wins in the Currie Cup, proudly brought to you by Nashua and DirectAxis, as the hosts won all three matches with bonus points.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls outplayed the Xerox Golden Lions 54-22 at Loftus Versfeld for their second bonus-point win in as many games, while DHL Western Province defeated the Steval Pumas 34-10 at DHL Newlands and the Cell C Sharks earned back-to-back home wins as they registered a 41-3 victory against Tafel Lager Griquas at Growthpoint Kings Park.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls started their clash against the Xerox Golden Lions with a bang as they raced to a 21-0 lead in the first 11 minutes thanks to three converted tries.
Their Johannesburg neighbours, however, hit back with three unconverted tries within 10 minutes – two of which were scored when the hosts were reduced to 14 men and the other when they were down to 13 men – but another seven-pointer by the Vodacom Blue Bulls on the stroke of halftime handed them a 28-15 lead. They added another four second-half tries to take their tally to eight, while the opposition were only able to add one, which steered them to a rewarding 54-22 victory. The Xerox Golden Lions’ last try, however, ensured that they earned a bonus point.
DHL Western Province bounced back from a 19-10 deficit shortly after halftime to secure a 34-10 victory against the Steval Pumas and their first victory of the season. The hosts scored six tries to three by their Mpumalanga counterparts as they found their rhythm in the second half to cross the tryline four times after trailing 12-10 at the break. The Capetonians, however, could have registered a much bigger victory had it not been for errors at crucial times in the first half and a disappointing goal-kicking display in which they only slotted over one conversion.
The Cell C Sharks capitalised on their try-scoring chances throughout the match against Tafel Lager Griquas and supported this with a solid defensive effort, to outscore the Kimberley side six tries to none for their bonus-point 41-3 victory. The KwaZulu-Natalians scored twice in the first half and added a penalty goal for a 17-3 lead at the break, and they added another four second-half tries, with 2016 Junior Bok winger Sbu Nkosi touching down twice in the match.
Summary of final results and scorers in round two:
Vodacom Blue Bulls 54 (28) Xerox Golden Lions 22 (15)
Vodacom Blue Bulls – Tries: Piet van Zyl, Tony Jantjies, Ruben van Heerden, Burger Odendaal, Boom Prinsloo, Travis Ismaiel, Warrick Gelant, Pierre Schoeman. Conversions: Tony Jantjies (5), JT Jackson, Tinus De Beer.
Xerox Golden Lions – Tries: Aphiwe Dyantyi (2), Andrew Beerwinkel, Stokkies Hanekom. Conversion: Shaun Reynolds.
DHL Western Province 34 (10) Steval Pumas 19 (12)
DHL Western Province – Tries: Bongi Mbonambi, Nizaam Carr, Seabelo Senatla, Dillyn Leyds, SP Marais. Conversion: SP Marais.
Steval Pumas – Tries: Stephan Greeff, Devon Williams, Jerome Pretorius. Conversions: Kobus Marais (2).
Cell C Sharks 41 (17) Tafel Lager Griquas 3 (3)
Cell C Sharks – Tries: Jacques Vermeulen, Sbu Nkosi (2), Jeremy Ward, Juan Schoeman, Cameron Wright. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3), Inny Radebe. Penalty Goal: Curwin Bosch.
Tafel Lager Griquas – Penalty Goal: George Whitehead.
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