Griquas still unbeaten
Scrumhalf Dorfling scored twice in the first half while right wing Coertzen dotted down once in each half as the Griquas continued their fine run of form as they completed their sixth win on the trot to maintain their unbeaten record.
While in Bloemfontein Jean Pierre Coetzee scored two second half tries as the Toyota Free State Cheetahs clinched 19-13 win over the Sharks XV.
Meanwhile, flyhalf Scott van Breda scored 18 points as Western Province ran in eight tries to one in thumping Eastern Province Kings 50-10 in Cape Town.
Welwitschias 25-55 Griquas
The Griquas ran in eight tries to four as the Welwitschias sank to their sixth consecutive loss to remain at the bottom of the log without a single log point to their name.
Griquas’ fullback Gouws Prinsloo kicked 15 points, thanks to six conversions and a penalty.
The visitors made their intentions clear very early on with Coertzen scoring his first try after just 42 seconds of play before Dorfling scored in the seventh minute.
Welwitschias’ flyhalf Heinrich Smit and Prinsloo then exchanged penalties before Griquas’ pivot Andre Swarts and Dorfling both registered converted tries.
The Welwitschias finally breached the Griquas’ defence when left wing Phillip Nashikaku dotted down for an unconverted try in the 29th minute.
The Griquas struck back with a try from outside centre JW Jonker but the Welwitschias had the last say in the half when inside centre Francois Wiese went over for an unconverted score on the stroke of halftime.
The visitors continued their good form in the second half as they extended their lead to 45-13 thanks to a converted try from tighthead prop Stephan Kotze.
The hosts continued to fight though and replacement centre Justin Nel scored and converted a try in the 60th minute.
But the Griquas were not to be denied and they ran in two more tries through replacement flank Thabo Mabusa and Coertzen before the Welwitschias grabbed a late consolation try from replacement scrumhalf Jean-Claude Winkler.
Scorers:
For Welwitschias:
Tries: Wiese, Winkler, Nel, Nashikaku
Con: Nel
Pen: Smit
For Griquas:
Tries: Coertzen, Swarts, Jonker, Kotze, Mabuza, Dorfling 2
Cons: Prinsloo 6
Pen: Prinsloo
Teams:
Welwitschias: 15 Johann Tromp, 14 Malcolm Moore, 13 Darryl de la Harpe, 12 Francois Wiese, 11 Phillip Nashikaku, 10 Heinrich Smit, 9 Arthur Bouwer, 8 Leneve Damens, 7 Herman Krause, 6 Rohan Kitshoff (Captain), 5 Tinus du Plessis, 4 Munio Kasiringua, 3 Abel de Klerk, 2 Gerhard Lotter, 1 Shaun Du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Hauta Veii, 17 Quintin Esterhuizen, 18 Denzil van Wyk, 19 Zayne Groenewaldt, 20 JC Winkler, 21 Justin Nel, 22 Riaan van Zyl.
Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 AJ Coertzen (Captain), 13 JW Jonker, 12 Kyle Lombard, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Andre Swarts, 9 Tiaan Dorfling, 8 Jason-Collin Fraser, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 David Antonites, 4 Jono Janse van Rensburg, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Marius Fourie, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Luxolo Koza, 18 Devon Martinus, 19 Steven Meiring, 20 Thabo Mabuza, 21 Eric Zana, 22 Steven Moir.
Referee: Egon Seconds
Free State Cheetahs 19-13 Sharks XV
Right wing Coetzee scored two of the home team’s three tries as they outscored their opponents by three tries to two to seal victory.
The win improved Free State Cheetahs’s record to three wins from five games while the Sharks XV have now lost three of their five matches after winning their last two games.
The visitors opened the scoring thanks to an 18th minute penalty from pivot Tristan Tedder. But is was the home team that grabbed the first try, five minutes before the end of the half when left wing Maphutha Dolo skated his way over before flyhalf Sias Ebersohn slotted the conversion to give the Free State Cheetahs the lead.
The Sharks XV responded almost immediately with a try of their own, two minutes before the break, when outside centre Nkululeko Marwana dotted down for an unconverted score as the visitors reached halftime holding a narrow 8-7 lead. But the Sharks XV suffered a setback just three minutes after the restart when Marwana received a yellow card.
The Free State Cheetahs were quick to take advantage and they regained the lead, in the 48th minute, when Coetzee went over for a converted try to make the score 14-8 in the home team’s favour.
The hosts increased their lead when Coetzee grabbed his second try, in the 60th minute. The Sharks XV narrowed the gap to six points three minutes later when replacement back Sandile Kubeka scored an unconverted try.
Scorers:
For Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Coetzee 2, Dolo
Cons: Ebersohn 2
For Sharks XV:
Tries: Kubeka, Marwana
Pen: Tedder
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Reinhardt Erwee, 14 Jean-Pierre Coetzee, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Maphutha Dolo, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 JP Smith, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Jasper Wiese, 6 Refuoe Rampeta, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Chase Morison, 18 Johann Grundlingh, 19 Ntokozo Vidima, 20 Ruan van Rensburg, 21 Darren Baron, 22 Lorenzo Gordon.
Sharks XV: 15 Alrin Eksteen, 14 Neil Maritz, 13 Nkululeko Marwana, 12 Heimar Williams, 11 Sipho Mkhize, 10 Tristan Tedder, 9 Dylan Marcus, 8 Retief Marais, 7 Johan du Toit, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 David McDuling, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 John Meyer, 18 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 19 Tjiuee Uanivi, 20 Francois Kleinhans, 21 Hanco Venter, 22 Sandile Kubeka.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Western Province 50-10 EP Kings
Western Province were looking to bounce back after losing to the Sharks XV in Durban the weekend before while the EP Kings were confident having managed consecutive victories over the Welwitschias in Windhoek and Blue Bulls in Port Elizabeth.
But it was Western Province who comfortable took the honours by controlling the fixture almost from the outset. After a tightly-contested first half, the home team ran riot after some concerted pressure on their opponents, who had been somewhat decimated by the loss of players to the Southern Kings’ ranks.
But EP Kings did get off to a running start with flyhalf Garrick Mattheus kicking a penalty in the first minute.
But the lead was soon overtaken as prop Frans van Wyk and left wing Devon Williams scored within six minutes of each other. Fullback Grant Hermanus converted one of the tries to give WP a 12-3 lead after 15 minutes.
WP scrumhalf Justin Phillips took his side further into the lead when he darted over for his WP’s third try.
The Kings managed their only try of the game through centre Andile Jho on the stroke of halftime. Mattheus converted.
Two more tries from former EP Kings' star and flyhalf Scott van Breda and Daniel du Plessis minutes after the restart broke the back of the EP’s challenge. Van Breda took over the kicking duties from Hermanus and landed both conversions.
Replacement hooker Michael Willemse got in for his try on 51 minutes and Van Breda scored a second. Van Breda was again on target with the conversions to finish with 18 points in the game.
Flank Luke Stringer scored the final try of the encounter to help secure an overwhelming triumph for his team.
Scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Du Plessis, Williams, Van Dyk, Phillips, Stringer, Willemse, Van Breda 2
Cons: Van Breda 4, Hermanus
For EP Kings:
Try: Jho
Con: Mattheus
Pen: Mattheus
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Grant Hermanus, 14 JP Lewis, 13 Ryan Oosthuizen, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Scott van Breda, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Janco Venter, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Chris van Zyl (Captain), 4 Meyer Swanepoel, 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Jean-Pierre Smith.
Replacements: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Kyle Whyte, 18 Eital Bredenkamp, 19 Christo van der Merwe, 20 Damian Stevens, 21 Sibahle Maxwane, 22 Berton Klaasen.
EP Kings: 15 Lindelwe Zungu, 14 Athi Mayinje, 13 Somila Jho, 12 Andile Jho, 11 Siphu Msutwana, 10 Garrick Mattheus, 9 Sibusiso Ngcokovane, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Sintu Manjezi (Captain), 6 Stephan Zaayman, 5 Philip Du Preez, 4 Mthetheleli Fuzani, 3 Roche van Zyl, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 David Murray.
Replacements: 16 Jean-Pierre Jamieson, 17 Mzu Sofisa, 18 Gerrit Huisamen, 19 Lusanda Badiyana, 20 Chuma Faas, 21 Jordan Koekemoer, 22 Yaw Penxe.
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
