Griquas, SWD Eagles flex muscles
The men from Kimberley edged the Cell C Sharks XV 38-34 in a dramatic clash at the Rugby Festival at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on June 17.
Tafel Lager Griquas and the SWD Eagles scored important victories in the Central and South Sections of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge, while the Leopards and Eastern Province recorded their maiden wins for 2018 in round nine of the competition.
The men from Kimberley edged the Cell C Sharks XV 38-34 in a dramatic clash at the Rugby Festival at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on June 17. This win pushed them past the Toyota Free State XV on the overall log in the Central Section and into a position of potentially hosting a quarter-final in a couple of weeks. At the same time, the defeat will hurt the Durban team’s hopes of playing at home in the knockout stages.
The other contender in the Central Section, the Down Touch Griffons, saw their strong first half effort come to nothing as the Leopards scored a late winner via flyhalf Schalk Hugo. The 38-35 win by the Leopards was the first of the season for the Potchefstroom side, who are slowly but surely starting to play to their true potential.
In the wake of this defeat, the team from Welkom, who lead 28-14 at the break, will have their work cut out to get into the play-offs.
The South Section saw two significant results. The EP Elephants finally broke their duck, beating the Border Bulldogs 26-14 in the main game at the festival, while SWD overcame the Boland Cavaliers for an important win in their race to finish second behind DHL Western Province, who had a bye.
The North Section is still dominated by the iCollege Pumas, who scored 54 unanswered points in the first half against the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias in Secunda, winning 93-3 in the end. Devon Williams and Morné Joubert dotted down three times each as the home side ran wild.
The Xerox Golden Lions XV had to get the ball in the hands of Springbok winger Courtnall Skosan to clinch a close win over the Hino Valke at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Friday. The visitors held an unexpected 27-14 lead at the break, but four tries by the home side finally overhauled them and Skosan’s effort confirmed a 45-30 result.
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