Xerox Golden Lions reign supreme in Absa Currie Cup derby

Sep 13 • General News • 1580 Views • Comments Off on Xerox Golden Lions reign supreme in Absa Currie Cup derby

Photo: Anton Geyser

The Xerox Golden Lions reigned supreme over the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Absa Currie Cup derby on Saturday evening thanks to a thrilling 36-28 win in their top of the table clash in Pretoria.

Johan Ackermann’s outfit consolidated their position on the top of the Premier Division standings and at the same time opened up a four point lead over their Northern neighbours, who suffered their first defeat of the campaign.

Last year’s winners, DHL Western Province, strengthened their grip on third place with a gritty 37-27 away win over the Cell C Sharks in Durban. Elsewhere, the ORC Griquas and the Eastern Province Kings scored their first wins of the competition.

In Kimberley, the Griquas prevailed 32-15 over the Steval Pumas while the 14-man EP Kings defeated the Toyota Free State Cheetahs 32-24 at home in Port Elizabeth.

With just four rounds of league action remaining, the Lions are leading the race for semi-final places. They have 29 points, and are followed by the Blue Bulls (25), WP (20), Sharks (13), Cheetahs (12), Pumas (9), Kings (7) and Griquas (6).
Vodacom Blue Bulls 28 (7) Xerox Golden Lions (30) 36

Flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff kicked 21 points to steer the Golden Lions to a thrilling 36-28 win over the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their feature Absa Currie Cup fixture on Saturday evening at Loftus Versfeld. The top of the table clash saw the reuniting of centres Jan Serfontein and Dries Swanepoel for the Blue Bulls – the duo last played together while at Grey College.

The visitors ran rampant in the first half as both teams tried to implement their running game plans. Winger Courtnall Skosan got their first try within three minutes when he collected Boshoff’s cross kick. Springbok prop Dean Greyling was made to sweat in his 50th Absa Currie Cup match as the Golden Lions dominated the scrums.

Barging lock Franco Mostert, with a try next to the poles, wing Ruan Combrinck (intercept try) and the accurate boot of Boshoff – on target with all of his kicks at goal including a drop goal – gave the Golden Lions a stunning 0-30 lead. The home team were awarded for their efforts when wing Jamba Ulengo raced away to score in the corner, while flyhalf Tian Schoeman added the conversion to cut the halftime deficit to 7-30.

No 8 Arno Botha crashed over for a try as the Blue Bulls found their groove. Replacement flanker Deon Stegmann was dragged over the tryline while Ulengo bagged his second and the Blue Bulls’ fourth try for a valuable bonus point. However, Boshoff put the game out of reach with a penalty kick in the 78th minute.

Scorers:

Vodacom Blue Bulls: Jamba Ulengo (2), Arno Botha, Deon Stegmann; Conversions: Tian Schoeman (4).

Xerox Golden Lions: Tries: Courtnall Skosan, Franco Mostert, Ruan Combrinck; Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (3); Penalties: Boshoff (4); Drop goal: Boshoff.

Cell C Sharks (17) 27 DHL Western Province (10) 37

It was an excellent result for WP, with debutant starter Du Preez – a late replacement for Kurt Coleman – contributing 14 points and new skipper Nic Groom giving his young side plenty of direction from the base of the scrum.

Flying winger Seabelo Senatla scored a seventh minute try and first-time starter Du Preez slotted a brilliant touchline conversion and a penalty for the visitors’ points in the first half. Former WP stalwart Joe Pietersen landed three penalties and converted midfielder Andre Esterhuizen’s try to hand the Cell C Sharks a 17-10 halftime lead.

Province needed a strong start to the second half to rub out that seven-point deficit and they got what they wanted when Rynhardt Elstadt forced his way over from close range, Du Preez converted to make it 17-17 after 43 minutes. Birthday boy Dillyn Leyds was the next try-scorer for WP, before replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi scored with his first touch of the ball.
Du Preez added the extras to make it 31-20 – crucially, also securing the bonus point for the visitors. He later slotted another penalty to make it 34-20 with 23 minutes left, before the Sharks hit back via a Odwa Ndungane try. Replacement flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis landed a 78th minute penalty to seal the win. Western Province will host the Blue Bulls at DHL Newlands next Friday and kick-off is 19:00.

Scorers:

Cell C Sharks: Tries: Esterhuizen, Ndungane; Conversions: Pietersen; Penalties: Pietersen 5.

DHL Western Province: Tries: Senatla, Elstadt, Leyds, Mbonambi; Conversions: Du Preez (4); Penalties: Du Preez (2), Catrakilis.

ORC Griquas (15) 32 Steval Pumas (3) 15

Griquas led 15-3 at the break in Kimberley and they scored four tries in total to help them open their win account with a bonus point victory.

The Pumas, who have enjoyed three wins in Kimberley in either the Absa Currie Cup or Vodacom Cup since 2011, were the favourites based on form as the Griquas were yet to make any impression in the competition. But as the Griquas have shown so often in the past, they are at their most dangerous with their backs against the wall.

Both first-half tries by No 8 Carel Greeff, came from Pumas errors. With a more than half an hour remaining, Griquas were in command and 25-3 ahead after a penalty by Clinton Swart and a third converted try, this time by winger Jaquin Jansen. The Pumas rallied back with tries through flanker Marnus Schoeman and winger Rosco Speckman to make the scoreboard more respectable.

Scorers:

ORC Griquas: Tries: Carel Greeff (2), Jaquin Jansen, Jonathan Janse van Rensburg; Conversions: Clinton Swart (3). Penalties: Swart (2)

Steval Pumas: Tries: Marnus Schoeman, Rosco Speckman; Conversion: Justin van Staden; Penalty: Van Staden.

Eastern Province (16) 32 Toyota Free State Cheetahs (19) 24

The EP Kings bagged their first win of the season with a gutsy 32-24 win over the Toyota Free State Cheetahs after trailing by three points in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Reduced to 14 men soon after the start of the second half, the Kings fought bravely despite the numerical disadvantage to register a well-earned triumph. They had gone five matches without a win until this clash but they eventually had something to celebrate against a Free State side which made too many mistakes on the night.

Scott van Breda kicked two conversions and six penalties for a huge contribution in the Kings’ much needed first win. Centre JP du Plessis was shown a red card for throwing a punch in the 45th minute. Former Kings stalwart Sergeal Petersen scored a bonus point try for the Cheetahs with two minutes remaining, but it was not enough to deny the home team their deserved first win.

Scorers

Eastern Province Kings: Tries: Luther Obi, Siyanda Grey; Conversions: Scott van Breda (2), Siyanda Grey; Penalties: Scott van Breda (6)

Toyota Free State Cheetahs: Tries: Gerhard Olivier, Shaun Venter, Clayton Blommetjies, Sergeal Petersen; Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (2)

The Absa Currie Cup log after round six:

TEAM	PLAYED	WON	LOST	DREW	POINTS FOR	POINTS AGAINST	POINTS DIFFERENCE	TRIES FOR	TRIES AGAINST	LOSS BONUS	TRIES BONUS	POINTS
Xerox Golden Lions	6	6	0	0	240	117	123	27	14	0	5	29
Vodacom Blue Bulls	6	5	1	0	238	145	93	27	16	0	5	25
DHL Western Province	6	4	2	0	172	139	33	18	13	1	3	20
Cell C Sharks	6	3	3	0	151	172	-21	16	19	0	1	13
Toyota Free State	6	2	4	0	122	152	-30	16	12	2	2	12
Steval Pumas	6	2	4	0	127	181	-54	11	20	1	0	9
EP Kings	6	1	5	0	125	184	-59	14	22	2	1	7
ORC Griquas	6	1	5	0	119	204	-85	13	26	0	2	6