Western Province ended Griquas’ unbeaten run in the Vodacom Cup with a 21-14 win in Kimberley, while the Sharks XV, SWD, Griffons and Golden Lions also won.
Griquas and WP were the only undefeated sides in the competition heading into this weekend’s clash at Hoërskool Diamantveld, but WP topped the South Section log because they had accumulated one more bonus point.
Flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis opened the scoring with a penalty for the Cape side, but fullback Gouws Prinsloo responded with two penalty goals of his own, as the hosts held a slender 6-3 lead at the break.
Both kickers added one more penalty in the second half, but tries by wing EW Viljoen and outside centre Kyle Lombard secured the result for Province. Griquas managed to score late in the match through hooker Martin Bezuidenhout, but the visitors held on for the win.
Elsewhere, the Sharks XV scored eight tries to thrash the Boland Kavaliers 52-12, the SWD Eagles kept their play-off hopes alive with a 31-10 away win over the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth, the Griffons earned a 40-28 victory over the Limpopo Blue Bulls in Welkom and the Golden Lions crushed the hapless Leopards XV 63-10.
Wstern Povince (21) – Tries: EW Viljoen, Kyle Lombard. Conversion: Jean-Luc du Plessis. Penalties: Du Plessis (3).
Griquas (14) – Try: Martin Bezuidenhout. Penalties: Gouws Prinsloo (3).
Sharks XV (52) – Tries: Barend Potgieter (2), Marius Louw (2), Cameron White, Khaya Majola, Tonderai Chavhanga, Tyler Fisher. Conversions: Wright (3), Sandile Kubeka (3).
Boland Kavaliers (12) – Tries: Edwin Sass, Freginald Africa. Conversion: Christian Rust.
EP Kings (10) – Tries: Luther Obi, Simon Kerrod.
SWD Eagles (31) – Tries: Alshaun Bock, Clinton Wagman, Dwayne Kelly. Conversions: Elrich van Vuuren, Gerhardus Smith. Penalties: Elrich van Vuuren (3), Gerhardus Smith.
Griffons (40) – Tries: Martin Sithole (3), Vuyo Mbotho (2), Wynand Pienaar. Conversions: Francois du Toit (5).
Limpopo Blue Bulls (28) – Tries: Abraham Boonzaaier, Anton Beswick, Dean Gordon. Conversions: Beswick (2). Penalties: Beswick (3).
Golden Lions (63) – Tries: Schalk van der Merwe (2), Ashlon Davids, Jano Venter (2), Mark Pretorius, Ramone Samuels, Mark Richards. Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (7). Penalties: Van der Walt (3).
Leopards XV (10) – Tries: Juan Language, Wilmar Arnoldi.
Photo: ImageSA/Saru
