Last 8 to battle it out
SuperSport Rugby Challenge Cup quarter finalists announced.
An away victory to Eastern Province and a seven-try spree by the Steval Pumas secured them a quarter-final spot in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge on the last weekend in June, while a hard-fought 46-41 win over the SWD Eagles in Oudtshoorn earlier confirmed DHL Western Province as the leading team in the tournament after eight rounds of regulation play.
The Cape side had to work hard to beat SWD to finish the tournament undefeated, and was the only team to do so, finishing top of the South Section; while EP scored a dramatic 48-29 win over Boland in Bredasdorp on Saturday to sneak past Border into second place in the South Section.
Earlier on Saturday, the Steval Pumas scored seven tries in their 47-33 win over the Hino Valke to secure third spot in the North Section; and, due to a superior points’ difference, finished best of the third-placed teams, of which two will qualify as well.
The DHL WP (39 log points) finished top in the South, followed by EP (25), while Tafel Lager Griquas (35) topped the Central section, with the Cell C Sharks XV (29) in second place. The Kimberley side scored a 49-35 win over the Down Touch Griffons on Friday, while the Natal team beat Toyota Free State XV 52-7 in Bloemfontein.
The Xerox Golden Lions XV (36), who dramatically edged past the Vodacom Blue Bulls (29) on Friday, topped the North Section, with their Pretoria neighbour finishing second, thanks to a better points’ difference than the Steval Pumas, who also finished on 29 points. The Nelspruit side qualified as the next best team due to their number of log points.
The eighth-placed team came down to points’ difference. The Toyota Free State XV and Border both finished on 22 log points, but the Bloemfontein team (-48) sneaked in with the narrowest of margins due to a better points’ difference than that of Border (-49).
The Eastern Cape side, who had a bye this weekend, first had to witness being pipped by EP on the log and then saw themselves losing out again to the central heartland side due to the points’ difference criteria.
The final venues and fixtures of the quarter-finals will be confirmed as soon as the logistics have been confirmed by all stakeholders.
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