Hanekom hat-trick seals win for Lions
On the day of dramatic international results – which saw both the Springboks and Baby Boks knocked over – the Lions smashed the table-topping Griquas, handing them only their second defeat in 10 matches.
The result saw the Lions – the defending Curie Cup champions – move up to fifth place in the standings. However, the Lions are guaranteed a place in the competition proper – by virtue of being one of the six teams forced to play without their Super Rugby stars.
The Falcons recorded their third win in eight matches when the demolished the winless Namibian Welwitschias 66-5.
Golden Lions 52-37 Griquas
Nicolaas Hanekom ran in a hat-trick of tries as the Golden Lions XV upset the Griquas 52-37 at the Johannesburg Police Club in Marks Park on Saturday.
Outside centre Hanekom scored three of the Golden Lions' seven tries with replacement back JW Bell grabbing a brace of tries while flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff kicked seven conversions and a penalty for a personal haul of 17 points.
The Griquas did have the consolation of claiming a bonus point for scoring four tries with left wing Alshaun Bock scoring a brace of his own.
The Griquas came into the match having lost only one of their first nine games while the Golden Lions had won just three of their eight matches.
The hosts started in fine form with Hanekom grabbing two tries in the first 14 minutes as the Golden Lions opened up a 14-0 lead.
The Griquas opened their account in the 18th minute when Bock dotted down for a converted score.
But the Golden Lions had built up a head of steam and fullback Shaun Reynolds dotted down in the corner with Boshoff slotting the difficult conversion as the hosts extended their lead to 21-7 after 22 minutes.
The Griquas fought their way back into the contest as fullback AJ Koertzen scored a converted try before Bock went over for his second try of the contest with flyhalf Andre Swarts kicking the conversion as the visitors levelled the scores five minutes before halftime as the teams reached the break locked at 21-21.
The Griquas made an excellent start to the second half with tight head prop Stephan Kotze running in a try after a loose pass had been intercepted.
Swarts kicked a penalty to extend the lead to 10 points before the home team struck back thanks to a converted try from lock Lourens Erasmus.
Swarts kicked a second penalty but the Golden Lions grabbed the lead once again when Hanekom completed his hat-trick in the 62nd minute with Boshoff's conversion giving the hosts a one-point lead before Boshoff slotted a penalty to give the Lions a bit of breathing space.
Swarts cut the gap to just one point again with a penalty but the Golden Lions made sure of the win when Bell scored a converted try in the 73rd minute before he grabbed a second try with just a minute left in the contest.
The scorers:
For the Golden Lions:
Tries: Hanekom 3, Reynolds, Erasmus, Bell 2
Cons: Boshoff 7
Pen: Boshoff
Griquas
Tries: Bock 2, Koertzen, Kotze
Cons: Swarts 3
Pens: Swarts 3
Teams:
Golden Lions: 15 Shaun Reynolds, 14 Selon Gavor, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Koch Marx, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ricky Scroeder, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Robert Kruger, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Ruaan Lerm, 20 Ashlon Davids, 21 Jarryd Sage, 22 JW Bell.
Griquas: 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Andre Swarts, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Sias Koen, 7 RJ Liebenberg, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Marius Fourie, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Devon Martinus, 18 Steven Meiring, 19 Jonathan JV Rensburg, 20 Gouws Prinsloo, 21 Kyle Lombaard, 22 Eric Zana.
Referee: Quinton Immelman
Falcons 66-5 Welwitschias
Flyhalf Karlo Aspeling collected 19 points as the 10-try Falcons grabbed their third win of the season at Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park, on Saturday.
Aspeling scored a try and slotted seven conversions against a team which had very little answer to the superior strength of their hosts.
The visitors were up against it from the start of the fixture with all of their first choice players on national duty in the annual Nations Cup tournament on Bucharest. They had also not won a match in their previous eight and were therefore desperate for victory.
The Falcons had also not lived up to expectations in their earlier matches with only two wins to show from their seven games.
But it was them who dominated the possession from the kickoff and that brought about early pressure which produced a seventh minute try by eighthman Reg Muller. Flyhalf Karlo Aspeling added the extras.
The home team notched up their second try of the afternoon after some good interplay between their backs resulted in left wing Ettiene Taljaard sprinting through to score under the uprights after 17 minutes. Aspeling kicked the conversion.
The Falcons's third try came on 27 minutes when Carlyle Hendricks was handed the final pass from Taljaard for the right wing to score. Aspeling took the lead to 21-0 with his accurate conversion.
A Falcons fourth try and the bonus point came three minutes later with centre Andries Truter scoring and Aspeling adding the extra two points.
Muller forced his way over for his second try of the match on 36 minutes following a quick tap penalty.
On the stroke of halftime, the Welwitschias finally got onto the scoreboard when centre Lesley Klim took advantage of extras numbers from a quickly taken tap kick to score.
The second half started in much the same fashion as the first with replacement Andrew van Wyk dotting down the Falcons's sixth try in the 45th minute.
Further second half tries from lock Marlyn Williams, Aspeling, Truter and Muller completed the rout for the home team.
The scorers:
Falcons:
Tries: Muller 3, Taljaard, Hendricks, Truter 2, Van Wyk, Williams, Aspeling
Cons: Aspeling 7, Truter
Welwitschias:
Try: Klim
Teams:
Falcons: 15 Christo Coetzee, 14 Carlyle Hendricks, 13 Xander Cronje, 12 Andries Truter, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Johan Pretorius, 8 Reg Muller (captain), 7 Vincent Jobo, 6 Adriaan Pansegrouw, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Isak Deetlefs, 3 Barend Steyn, 2 Gihard Visagie, 1 Jacobus Strauss.
Replacements: 17 Henri Boshoff, 18 Shane Kirkwood, 19 JP Mostert, 20 Anrich Richter, 21 Andrew Van Wyk, 22 Coert Cronje.
Welwitchias: 15 Justin Nel, 14 Phillip Nashikaku, 13 Lesley Klim, 12 Francois Wiese (captain), 11 Sylvano Beukes, 10 Aurelio Plato, 9 J C Winkler, 8 Joe Hermann, 7 Morné Blom, 6 Zayne Groenewaldt, 5 Muniovito Kasiringua, 4 Wikus Davis, 3 Hauta Veii, 2 Dewald Coetzee, 1 Quintin Esterhuizen.
Replacements: 16 Johann Wohler, 17 Tjino Tjirare, 18 Grandt Nash, 19 Max Katjijeko, 20 Cameron Klassen, 21 Ricardo Swartz, 22 Shaun Kaizemi.
Referee: Rodney Boneparte
Source: sarugby.co.za
