Two teams have qualified for the semifinals, while five teams are battling for the final two playoff spots on the last pool weekend of action.
Griquas players celebrate a try during their Currie Cup clash against the Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium on Friday afternoon. Picture: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images
The Griquas and Cheetahs secured home semifinals on the penultimate weekend of pool play in the Currie Cup competition after wins over the Pumas and Boland Cavaliers respectively.
Competition defending champs the Griquas sit top of the log on 26 points, level with the Cheetahs, but well ahead on points difference, and next weekend’s final pool round will determine who finishes top.
A thrilling final round is now lined up, as the Pumas in third on 17 points, Cavaliers fourth (16), Stormers fifth (16), Lions sixth (15) and Sharks seventh (13) will all be battling it out for the final two knockout places.
Over the past weekend one game was played on Sunday, with the Cheetahs downing an ill-disciplined Cavaliers 33-24, while three matches took place on Friday with the Griquas thumping the Pumas 38-14, the Stormers thrashed the Bulls 50-26 and the Sharks and Lions drew 22-all.
In Bloemfontein the Cheetahs needed a spectacular implosion from the Cavaliers to finally beat the team from Wellington, after losing to them earlier this year in the SA Cup and in last year’s Currie Cup.
It was a tight game overall, with the Cavaliers leading 10-7 at halftime, and the Cheetahs 14-10 in the 56th minute, when the visitors crumbled incredibly, conceding four yellow cards in the space of 10 minutes.
That saw the Cheetahs playing against 12 players at a stage, and allowed them to utilise the space effectively to run in a further three tries to secure a comfortable win, although the Cavaliers showed their fight by scoring themselves while down multiple players.
Friday games
On Friday in Mbombela the Griquas clinched a surprisingly easy win over the Pumas, despite the matches between these teams usually being tightly fought affairs.
The Griquas took the lead as early as the fourth minute and never looked back, as they led 24-7 at halftime and added two more tries to one in the second half to seal a good win.
In Pretoria the Stormers cruised to a big win thanks to a dominant first half showing that gave them a 33-7 lead at the break, before a much more competitive second half between the two was actually edged by the Bulls, but was not enough to get them close to troubling the visitors.
The late night match on Friday was an entertaining draw between the Sharks and Lions in Pietermaritzburg, that did neither side any favours in the race for the playoffs.
The Lions led 10-5 at halftime, but the Sharks hit back to lead 17-10 early in the second half, before the visitors levelled the scores, the home side then thought they had won it with a try with four minutes left, only for the Lions to score after the hooter, but the conversion to win was missed.
