Province see off Griffons

Elsewhere, the SWD Eagles crushed the Welwitschias with a massive 14-try mauling 96-5 at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek. While the Pumas remain third on the overall points log after convincingly beating the Sharks XV 35-13 at Arbor Park in Newcastle.

All Saturday's scores and scorers!

Western Province 38-26 Griffons

Jaco Taute, the solitary Springbok on the field, showed he is ready to challenge for a place in the Stormers team after rounding off a Province counter attack. The former fullback showed why he had such a stellar Currie Cup season after his move to inside centre and was only busy on defence during the match.

The WP forwards then did well to out-muscle the men from Welkom and it was hooker Chad Solomon who got up with the ball. Solomon was making his return after spending some time on the side-lines due to an injury but immediately made his presence felt on the pitch.

At 12-0 the visitors were staring down the barrel and a penalty by flyhalf George Whitehead gave them a slight reprieve.

It was yet another player brought into the starting XV who scored next, with live wire flank Eital Bredenkamp finishing well for his team's third try of the afternoon. Goal-kicking was difficult in the blustery conditions but at 17-6, the Capetonians were looking for the bonus-point try.

The boot of Whitehead kept the visitors in touch and the teams went into the half-time break with the home side leading 17-12.

It was Taute who scored the vital fourth try after the break and then the proverbial dam wall burst. Taute's centre partner EW Viljoen then showed some sublime individual skill to dot down after receiving the ball in his own half.

Flyhalf Robert du Preez then offloaded for Viljoen to grab his brace and at 38-12 the blue and white hoops were cruising. Late tries by No.8 De Wet Kruger and prop Danie van der Merwe added some respectability to the score line but then replacement scrumhalf Justin Philips rubbed further salt with the seventh try of the afternoon.

Scorers:

For Western Province:

Tries: Taute 2, Solomon, Bredenkamp, Viljoen 2, Phillips

Cons: van Breda 4

For the Griffons:

Tries: De Wet Kruger, Danie van der Merwe

Cons: Whitehead 2

Pens: Whitehead 3

DG: Whitehead  

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Grant Hermanus, 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Eital Bredenkamp, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Alistair Vermaak.

Replacements: 16 Cullen Collopy, 17 Kyle Whyte, 18 Beyers de Villiers, 19 Luke Stringer, 20 Justin Phillips, 21 Brandon Thomson, 22 JP Lewis.

Referee: Sindile Ngcese

SWD Eagles 96-5 Welwitschias

Captain and flyhalf Martin du Toit ran in three tries with left wing Daniel Roberts adding a brace and no fewer than seven other players registering five-pointers with replacement utility backs Thomas Kean and Hansie Graaff sharing six conversions while fullback Jacquin Jansen slotted seven conversions.

The Eagles opened the scoring as early as the third minute when No.8 Thor Halvorsen rumbled over the line for a converted try but the home side cut the lead to just two points as outside centre Lesley Klim burst over in the corner for an unconverted score.

The visitors ran in another four tries before the half-hour mark through lock Lodewyk Uys, Roberts, Du Toit and hooker Kurt Haupt. Matters got worse for the home side as tighthead prop Hauta Veii was shown a yellow card by referee Francois Pretorius.

The Eagles extended their lead by 14 points with their one-man advantage, with Du Toit registering his second try and openside flank, Janneman Stander dotting down for a 38-point half-time lead.

The second stanza followed much of the same route, with the men from George running in another seven tries despite having spent eight minutes with 13 men. Replacement lock, Andisa Ntsila was sent to the sin-bin after 51 minutes and two minutes later, Stander was also shown his marching orders by Pretorius.

But with 13 men, the Eagles scored again through inside centre Wilneth Engelbrecht with Graaff adding the extra two points. The visitors opened the floodgates when returning to their full compliment of players as replacement No.8 Christo du Plessis, prop Layle Delo, Du Toit and Roberts all crossed the whitewash.

Ntsila then repented his sin-binning by rounding off the afternoon with the 14th try on the stroke of full-time.

Scorers:

For Welwitschias:

Try: Klim

For SWD Eagles:

Tries: du Toit 3, Roberts 2, Ntsila, du Plessis, Jansen, Stander, Haupt, Delo, Uys, Halvorsen, Engelbrecht

Cons: Jansen 7, Kean 4, Graaff 2

Teams:

Welwitschias: 15 Justin Nel, 14 Phillip Nashikaku, 13 Lesley Klim, 12 Francois Wiese (captain), 11 Silvano Beukes, 10 Aurelio Plato, 9 JC Winkler, 8 Joe Herrmann, 7 Morne Blom, 6 Zayne Groenewaldt, 5 Wikus Davis, 4 Munio Kasiringua, 3 Hauta Veii, 2 Dewald Coetzee, 1 Quintin Esterhuizen.

Replacements: 16 Johann Wohler, 17 Antonio Tripodi, 18 Alberto Engelbrecht, 19 Muharua Katjijeko, 20 Camerol Klassen, 21 Mahco Prinsloo, 22 Riaan van Zyl.

SWD Eagles: 15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Lenes Nomdo, 13 Kirsten Heyns, 12 Wilneth Engelbrecht, 11 Daniel Roberts, 10 Martin du Toit (captain), 9 Johan Steyn, 8 Thor Halvorsen, 7 Lyndon Hartnick, 6 Janneman Stander, 5 Lodewyk Uys, 4 Peet van der Walt, 3 Dean Hopp, 2 Kurt Haupt, 1 Layle Delo.

Replacements: 16 Brianton Booysen, 17 Nemo Roelofse, 18 Christo Du Plessis, 19 Andisa Ntsila, 20 Mzo Dyantyi, 21 Thomas Kean, 22 Hansie Graaff.

Referee: Francois Pretorius

Sharks XV 13-35 Pumas

A dominating performance in the first half by the visitors, that included a brace of tries by Pumas No.8 Carel Greeff, was more than enough to clinch the game against a lacklustre Sharks outfit that has struggled to maintain the success of it's Super Rugby counterpart.

Two penalties by Sharks flyhalf Tristan Tedder were the only say that the hosts had in the first 40 minutes, with the Pumas simply dominating on the attack and even running the ball from deep in their own half.

Centre and captain, Hoffman Maritz, opened the Pumas' account as early as the 11th minute with his try, which flyhalf and kicking ace Justin van Staden converted with ease. What followed was some exciting rugby as No.8 Greeff put his stamp on the game, scoring converted tries in both the 14th and 28th minutes of the game.

With the half-time score 21-6 in favour of a visibly stronger visiting side, the Sharks had few answers in the second stanza. Wing Nkululeko Marwana scored his side's only try in the 48th minute and Tedder converted to reduce the deficit to eight points with little more than half an hour of play left.

But it was to be the Sharks' last points of the evening as a class Pumas outfit picked up where it left off in the first half. Flank Lambert Groenewald's converted try in the 69th minute meant a bonus point for the visitors, while replacement prop Jacques Kotze scored his side's fifth five pointer of the evening two minutes from full-time, to send the Sharks side packing back to Durban with their tail fins between their legs.

Scorers:

For Sharks XV:

Try: Marwana

Con: Tedder

Pens: Tedder 2

For the Pumas:

Tries: Greeff 2, Maritz, Kotze, Groenewald

Cons: van Staden 5

Teams:

Sharks XV: 15 Alrin Eksteen, 14 Marcel Coetzee, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Heimar Williams, 11 Nkululeko Marwana, 10 Tristan Tedder, 9 Hanco Venter, 8 Lubabalo Mthembu, 7 Christiaan De Bruin, 6 Khaya Majola (captain), 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Hyron Andrews, 3 Gerhard Engelbrecht, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Juan Schoeman.

Replacements: 16 Chris De Beer, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Ruan Kramer, 19 David McDuling, 20 Wian Vosloo, 21 Dylan Marcus, 22 Kelvin Elder.

Pumas: 15 Heinrich Steyl, 14 Tyler Fisher, 13 Hoffman Maritz (captain), 12 Hennie Skorbinski, 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Lambert Groenewald, 6 Nardus van der Walt, 5 Jannie Stander, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 DJ Terblanche, 2 Frankie Herne, 1 Khwezi Mona.

Replacements: 16 Francois Du Toit, 17 Jacques Kotze, 18 Wiehan Hay, 19 Brian Shabangu, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Marlou van Niekerk, 22 Bernado Botha.

Referee: Egon Seconds