The battle for a place in the semifinals of the Vodacom Cup saw the leading contenders dish out and suffer a few heavy psychological blows on Saturday.
The Wildeklawer Griquas consolidated their bid for a place in the final four with an emphatic 30-26 victory over the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Securicor Loftus.
The result changes nothing in the respective sections, with Griquas still top of section Y and the Bulls still top of section X.
But it certainly gives the two front-runners plenty to think about with only one round left before the play-offs.
After trailing 11-20 at half-time, Griquas mounted a massive second-half effort led by replacement flyhalf Braam van Straaten, who added four penalties and a conversion to clinch victory for his team.
”At half-time, we were 20-11 up and looking secure but in the second half we really gave it away by conceding too many penalties,” said Bulls coach Ashley Evert. ”Braam [van Straaten] kept the Griquas in it with some great kicking and we really can only blame ourselves.”
The SWD Eagles were always guaranteed a victory against the hapless Griffons, beating them 38-10 in Oudtshoorn. The win gives the Eagles some hope for a semifinal place, but they need to beat the in-form Leopards in Potchefstroom next week and hope for a bit of good fortune elsewhere for this to become a reality.
”The Bulls and Griquas have tough games next week, but so do we and if we want to be in the final four, we must win with a bonus point and either of those teams must go down heavily,” Eagles coach Johan Lerm said.
The Vodacom Cheetahs routed the Golden Lions 46-38 in a match played at Wits University, and in which Cheetahs left wing Showan Smith scored a hat-trick.
It is the third successive loss for Lions coach Timmy Goodwin, who could no longer hide his disappointment.
”At one stage, we were 26-0 ahead but our guys simply didn’t finish the job. We turned 26-17 up, but the guys didn’t tackle at all in the second half and we went down.”
The loss effectively ends any hope the defending champions had of making the semis this year, and next week’s game against Investec Western Province will bring an end to a miserable and disappointing season for the Lions.
The Cheetahs’ win puts them within striking distance of the play-offs.
In another upset result on Saturday, the Mighty Elephants scored only their second win of the season when they beat the @lantic Pumas 41-20 in their game played in Despatch.
A win against the Elephants would have brought the Pumas closer to a final-four berth. However, Elephants flyhalf Justin Peach was outstanding, scoring 26 of his team’s points through two tries, five conversions and two penalties.
In Springs, the AMD Falcons beat the Border Bulldogs 38-12. But both teams are out of the running for the final four. — Sapa