With a week of league action left, no team will go into the Vodacom Cup playoffs unbeaten after the Sharks XV and the Steval Pumas’ impressive winning runs came to an end over the weekend. The Sharks lost to the EP Kings and The Lions beat the Pumas.
The EP Kings reversed a 12-point half-time deficit to beat the Sharks XV by 27-23 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday afternoon, all but assuring the team from Port Elizabeth a place in the quarter-finals.
The hosts scored three tries in the second half as they handed the Sharks XV their first defeat of the season. This places the EP Kings in a good position to book their place in the quarter finals for the South section as the situation looks ever more precarious for the Cheetahs.
EP Kings 27 (3) Sharks XV 23 (15)
- EP Kings – Tries: Ntabeni Dukisa, Siyanda Grey, Stefan Willemse. Conversions: Dukisa, Kayle van Zyl (2). Penalties: Dukisa, Van Zyl.
- Sharks XV – Try: Guy Alexander. Penalties: Fred Zeilinga (6).
Five teams have booked their places in the quarter-finals – the Steval Pumas and Vodacom Blue Bulls in the North Section, and the Sharks XV, defending champions DHL Western Province and ICBC Pampas XV in the South Section.
Three teams will fight it out for the last two playoff spots in the North – the Leopards XV, GWK Griquas and MTN Golden Lions.
On Friday evening, the MTN Golden Lions kept alive their chances of reaching the quarter-finals by beating the pace-setters in the North Section, the Steval Pumas, by 23-14 in Nelspruit.
It was an inspired performance by the MTN Golden Lions to beat the table-topping team from Mpumalanga at the Mbombela Stadium, with their flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff contributing 13 points through a flawless kicking display, which included a good drop-goal. Flankers Jaco Kriel and Derick Minnie, who will tour with The Sharks to Australasia in the next month, scored the visitors’ tries.
Also in the South Section, the Border Bulldogs ended their losing spell when they beat the Regent Boland Cavaliers by 26-25 in East London on Friday. The difference was a late penalty goal by Karlo Aspeling after both teams had scored three tries apiece at the Buffalo City Municipality Stadium.
The ICBC Pampas XV managed to fend off a spirited second-half fightback by the Toyota Free State XV to win a thrilling Vodacom Cup encounter by 38-32 in Stellenbosch on Saturday, while DHL Western Province got a bonus-point in their 34-27 win over the SWD Eagles in the Strand.
In the North Section, GWK Griquas stretched their winning streak over the Leopards XV to eight matches when they won an entertaining match between these two teams by 32-26 in Kimberley on Saturday. The result saw the Northern Cape team move to fourth on the log, while the Leopards XV dropped down to third on the standings.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls beat their northern brothers, the Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls, by 110-0 in Lephalale on Saturday. Flyhalf Willie du Plessis scored 40 points – including converting 15 of his team’s 16 tries – for the Pretorians as the men from Far North suffered their fourth defeat by more than 100 points this season.
The Down Touch Griffons kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the quarter-finals thanks to a hard-earned 17-6 win over the Valke at the North West Stadium in Welkom on Friday.
