Qualifiers: Just two stay unbeaten

The Leopards and Griquas maintained their dominant form in the second round of the Currie Cup qualifying as they secured back-to-back victories.

The Leopards thumped the Falcons 45-22 in Kempton Park on Friday, while Griquas beat the Boland Cavaliers 21-3 in Wellington on Saturday, to remain the only unbeaten teams in the series.

The Leopards' bonus-point victory, however, allowed them to leapfrog the Kimberley side for the top spot on the log.

In the other match, the SWD Eagles pipped the Griffons 40-37 in George.

The Falcons put up a good fight in the first half of their opening match of the series against the Leopards with flyhalf Jaun Kotze opening up the scoring in the seventh minute with a drop goal to hand his team a 3-0 lead.

Leopards wing Kobus de Kock, however, crossed the tryline for his team's first try in the 14th minute, which captain, former Springbok Andre Pretorius, converted.

The Falcons hit back in the second quarter with a try by Riaan Arends, but their narrow lead was cancelled out by a Pretorius penalty.

This left the teams tied at 10-10 at the break.

The Falcons came out firing in the second half, which earned Arends his second try eight minutes into the half. This was followed by two tries in nine minutes by the Leopards to another by the Falcons in a thrilling run of play, which handed the Leopards a 22-17 lead with 25 minutes to play.

The visitors, however, managed a late charge which allowed them to add three tries to take their total for the match to six for a convincing 45-22 win.

The Boland Cavaliers gave a good account of themselves on defence in their clash against Griquas at the Boland Stadium in Wellington, as they limited the series favourites to three tries and denied them a bonus point.

The visitors managed to penetrate Boland's defence twice in the second half, to add to a penalty by Prinsloo, while the only points the hosts could squeeze from the match was a penalty by fullback Eric Zana.

In George, the SWD Eagles staged a strong second-half fightback to secure a victory against the Griffons in an exciting match at Outeniqua Park.

The Welkom team got the match off to a flying start despite an early try by Eagles wing Luzuko Vulindlu, as they produced a fine attacking performance to cross the tryline three times in the first half.

The Griffons maintained their momentum in the second half with wing Norman Nelson crossing the line for their bonus-point try in the second minute. But two tries in as many minutes by the SWD Eagles forced them back into the match, which they backed up with another three tries in the fourth quarter.

This combined with SWD Eagles flyhalf Karlo Aspeling's five conversions inflated their score, which cancelled out the visitors' fifth try by captain and centre Japie Nel as well as their two penalties, and allowed the hosts to snatch a 40-37 win.

All the scores and scorers:

Griquas 21-3 Boland

For Griquas:

Tries: Prinsloo, Lobberts, Mnisi

Cons: Prinsloo 3

For Boland:

Pen: Zana

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 Jacquin Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Hilton Lobberts, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Maks Van Dyk, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.

Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Janro van Niekerk, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Howard Mnisi, 22 Marais Schmidt.

Boland: 15 Eric Zana, 14 Duwayne Smart, 13 Richard Lawson, 12 Albert Trytsman, 11 Arno Fortuin, 10 Christian Rust, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Ryno Coetzee, 7 Gavin Annandale, 6 Franzel September (captain), 5 John-Charles Astle, 4 Hanno Kitshoff, 3 Francois Hanekom, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 Khwezi Mkhafu.

Replacements: 16 Ulrich Pretorius, 17 Martin Dreyer, 18 PJ van Zyl, 19 Ben Venter, 20 Deroy Rhoode, 21 Edwin Sass, 22 Chaney Willemse.

SWD 40-37 Griffons

For SWD:

Tries: Bock, Bester, Kelly, Haupt, Vulindlu, Raubenheimer

Con: Aspeling

For Griffons:

Tries: Huggett, le Roux, Nel, Nelson, Mbotho

Cons: Herbert, du Toit

Pens: Herbert, du Toit

South Western Districs: 15 Jarryd Buys, 14 Luzuko Vulindlu, 13 Elric van Vuuren, 12 Martin du Toit, 11 Alshaun Bock, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Danie Faasen, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Alwyn Bester, 6 Marcel Groenewald, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Schalk Oelofse, 3 Ashley Buys, 2 Wayne Khan, 1 Roy Godfrey (captain).

Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Grant Kemp, 18 Peet van der Walt, 19 Lyndon Hartnick, 20 Shaun Raubenheimer, 21 Dwayne Kelly, 22 Brian Skosana.

Griffons: 15 Tertius Maarman, 14 Cameron Jacobs, 13 Vuyo Mbotho, 12 Japie Nel (captain), 11 Norman Nelson, 10 Franna du Toit, 9 Oshwill Nortje, 8 Erik le Roux, 7 Jan Breedt, 6 Frans Sisita, 5 Mlungisi Bali, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Heinrich Roelfse, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 Daniel van der Merwe.

Replacements: 16 Hannes Snyman, 17 PW Botha, 18 Niell Jordaan, 19 Willmar Groenewald, 20 Wynand Pienaar, 21 Colin Herbert, 22 Aubrey McDonald.

Leopards 45-22 Falcons

For Leopards:

Tries: Robertse, Tossel, Language, de Kock,  Mhlongo

Con: Pretorius

Pen: Pretorius

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Hoffman Maritz, 14 Kobus de Kock, 13 Sergio Torrens, 12 Adriaan Engelbrecht, 11 Luther Obi, 10 André Pretorius (captain), 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Rhyk Welgemoed, 7 Henro Swart, 6 Juan Language, 5 Francois Robertse, 4 Robert Kruger, 3 Nhlanhla Ngcamu, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Mashudu Mafela.

Replacements: 16 JC Oberholzer, 17 John-Roy Jenkinson, 18 Sthembiso Mhlongo, 19 Philip de Wet, 20 Vian van der Watt, 21 George Tossel, 22 Tshotsho Mbovane.

Falcons: 15 Arno Poley, 14 Etienne Taljaard, 13 Grant Janke, 12 Willie Odendaal (captain), 11 Riaan Arends, 10 Jaun Kotze, 9 Anrich Richter, 8 Ernst Ladendorf, 7 JP Mostert, 6 Andrew van Tonder, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Thulani Ngidi, 2 Bruce Muller, 1 Dandre van der Westhuizen.

Replacements: 16 Chris Richardson, 17 Andries Schutte, 18 Friedle Olivier, 19 Jacques Verwey, 20 Ryan Carmichael, 21 Lenience Tambwera, 22 Andrew van Wyk.

Currie Cup qualifying log (Under played, won, points)

1. Leopards (2, 2, 10)

2. Griquas (2, 2, 9)

3. Griffons (2, 1, 6)

4. SWD (2, 1, 5)

5. Boland (2, 0, 1)

6. Falcons (1, 0, 0)

7. Border (1, 0, 0)