SuperSport Rugby Challenge – Round 2 Review

All the usual suspects delivered strong performances in week two of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge with the Vodacom Blue Bulls and Xerox Golden Lions posting the biggest scores of the weekend.

The Pretoria side had too much on offer for the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias, beating the visitors 87-21 at Loftus Versfeld, while the men from Johannesburg found the trip to Wolmaransstad to their liking, beating Leopards 55-27.

Three hat-tricks were scored by the Gauteng neighbours – No 8 Jo-Hanko de Villiers and winger Madosh Tambwe dotting down three times for the Xerox Golden Lions XV, to join the mark set by Erich Cronje for the Vodacom Blue Bulls earlier in the day.

However, the defending champions from Nelspruit, the iSG Pumas, had to bank on a late try to beat the Valke in Brakpan, while Tafel Lager Griquas, twice runners up in the competition, remained undefeated in the North Section by beating the Down Touch Griffons in a hard-fought affair in Welkom.

The iSG Pumas, Xerox Golden Lions XV and Tafel Lager Griquas are yet to taste defeat in the North Section.

There are only two undefeated teams left in the South Section, where the presence of 2017 champions, DHL Western Province, looms large. They had the better of Border in East London on Saturday, while Boland kept their winning ways going by beating Toyota Free State XV in Paternoster.

The EP Elephants also got their first win under the belt by beating SWD Eagles in Port Elizabeth, while the Cell C Sharks XV outplayed the Zimbabwe Academy in Cape Town for their opening win of the competition.

After two rounds, 998 points (140 tries, 104 conversions, two drop goals and 28 penalty goals) have been scored.

South Section summary:

DHL Western Province kept their good form going with a strong 48-24 (halftime 13-7) victory over a game Border Bulldogs team at Old Selbornians Rugby Club in East London on Saturday afternoon. The home side showed good determination, especially in the first half and after the first 40 minutes, they were still competitive. DHL WP's superior fitness came through in the second half, in which 52 points were scored.

A strong first half performance by the Boland Cavaliers saw them claim a 21-10 (halftime 21-0) victory over the Toyota Free State XV in the coastal town of Paternoster. Three tries in the first 40 minutes laid the foundation for the Cavaliers’ victory.

The EP Elephants scored nine tries to five to beat their western neighbours, the SWD Eagles, by 59-31 (halftime 33-7) at Wolfson Stadium in KwaZakhele, Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon.

And the Cell C Sharks XV secured their first victory of the 2019 edition of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge when they scored a 36-14 (halftime 14-0) victory over the Zimbabwe Academy at the False Bay Rugby Club in Cape Town.

North Section summary:

Tafel Lager Griquas held on to their number one spot in the North Section of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge after beating the Down Touch Griffons 35-26 (halftime 24-12) at the HT Pelatona Projects Stadium in Welkom on Saturday. Despite 21 points from Jaywinn Juries, the home side could not contain the efforts of the visitors, who started like a house on fire, scoring four tries in the opening 40.

The Xerox Golden Lions XV outplayed the Leopards 55-27 (halftime 18-8) at Wolmaransstad High School in Wolmaransstad on Saturday to score a second win in as many matches in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge. In all, the visitors scored eight tries, with the Leopards picking up a bonus point with four of their own.

The Vodacom Blue Bulls bounced back to winning ways in impeccable fashion as they outplayed the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias 87-21 (half-time 49-0) in Pretoria. The home team flew out of the starting blocks and ran in seven unanswered tries in the opening half.

A late try from replacement flanker Marco Palvie handed the iSG Pumas a 26-19 (halftime 19-14) victory over the Valke at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan. Both sides secured a bonus-point for their efforts as the home side lost within seven points while the visitors secured theirs through scoring four tries.

Results and points’ scorers (click on the score for the match report):

North Section:

Down Touch Griffons 26 (12), Tafel Lager Griquas 35 (24)

Down Touch Griffons - Tries: Jaywinn Juries, Neill Stannard. Conversions: Juries (2). Penalties: Juries (4).

Tafel Lager Griquas - Tries: Wendal Wehr, Andre Swarts, Anthony Volminck, AJ le Roux, Kwezi Mkhafu. Conversions: George Whitehead (2). Penalties: Whitehead (2).

Valke 19 (14), iSG Pumas 26 (19)

Valke - Tries: Marco Klopper, Anrich Richter, Coert Cronje. Conversions: Richter (2).

iSG Pumas - Tries: Devon Williams (2), Jeandre Rudolph, Marco Palvie.  Conversions: Chris Smith (2), Kobus Marais.

Leopards 27 (8), Xerox Golden Lions XV 55 (27)

Leopards - Tries: Marius Stander, Johan Retief, Chriswill September, Eugene Hare. Conversions: Lincoln Daniels (2). Penalty: Daniels.

Xerox Golden Lions XV - Tries: Jo-Hanko de Villiers (3), Madosh Tambwe (3), PJ Botha, Ulrich Maritz. Conversions: Jeanluc Cilliers (6). Penalty: Cilliers.

Vodacom Blue Bulls 87 (49), Windhoek Draught Welwitschias 21 (0)

Vodacom Blue Bulls - Tries: Erich Cronje (3), Duncan Matthews (2), Ruan Steenkamp, Embrose Papier, Madot Mabokela, Fiela Boshoff, Travis Ismaiel, Vaughan Isaacs, Earll Douwrie, Nic de Jager. Conversions: JT Jackson (9), Vaughan Isaacs (2).

Windhoek Draught Welwitschias - Tries: Leneve Damans, Oderich Mouton, Adriaan Booysen. Conversions: Pieter Steenkamp (2), Cliven Loubser.

South Section:

Zimbabwe Academy 14 (0), Cell C Sharks XV 36 (14)

Zimbabwe Academy - Tries: Bisele Tshamala (2). Conversions: Jeremiah Jaravaza, Hilton Mudariki.

Cell C Sharks XV - Tries: Murray Koster (2), Adam Mountford, Lunga Ncube, Connor Botha, Kwanda Dimaza. Conversions: Rhyno Smith (3).

Border Bulldogs 24 (7), DHL Western Province 48 (13)

Border Bulldogs - Tries: Billy Dutton, Lonwabo Ntleki, Penalty Try. Conversions: Aphiwe Stemele (2). Penalty: Stemele.

DHL Western Province - Tries: Nico Leonard, Chad Solomon (2), Marco Redelinghuys, Cornel Smit, Craig Barry. Conversions: Abner van Reenen (6). Penalties: Van Reenen (2).

Boland 21 (21), Toyota Free State XV 10 (0)

Boland Cavaliers - Tries: Adriaan Ludick, Tapiwa Tsomondo, Michaine Fick. Conversions: Garrick Mattheus (3).

Toyota Free State XV - Tries: Jamba Ulengo, Boan Venter.

EP Elephants 59 (33), SWD Eagles 31 (7)

EP Elephants - Tries: Mike Botha, Luvuyo Pupuma, Richmond Gora (2), Rynardt van Wyk, Mhlali Mpafi, Oliver Zono, Diego Williams, Meli Rokoua. Conversions: Oliver Zono (6), Ntabeni Dukisa.

SWD Eagles - Tries: Ganfried May, Dillin Snel, Vuyo Mboto, Marquit September (2). Conversions: Gerhard Nortier, Divan Nel (2).

The log after two rounds of play can be viewed here:https://www.springboks.rugby/tournaments/league?lid=9

The leading points’ scorers are:

1.       Abner Van Reenen (DHL Western Province) 36

2.       JT Jackson (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 34

3.       Jaywinn Juries (Down Touch Griffons) 27