Teams fire on all cylinders in exciting Challenge encounters

A TOTAL of 41 tries were scored on Saturday afternoon as DHL Western Province, Cell C Sharks XV, Vodacom Blue Bulls XV and the Xerox Golden Lions XV registered wins in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge competition.

A penalty from Josh Stander kept Western Province unbeaten in the Supersport Rugby Challenge with a tense 23-21 (halftime 15-0) victory over the Boland Cavaliers at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.

The pivot kept his cool when it mattered most, slotting his second penalty of the afternoon with four minutes remaining on the clock to hand the defending champions a narrow victory over their neighbours to maintain their unbeaten record.

Garth April was an impressive general for the Sharks XV in their 33-22 win over the Down Touch Griffons at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

It was the Sharks XV’s first win in the competition after their 50-33 loss to Griquas in Kimberley a fortnight ago.

In all they scored five tries to the four notched by the visitors, with the TMO disqualifying a further two superb team tries after detecting forward passes.

The Blue Bulls XV ran in 10 tries to convincingly beat the Hino Valke 64-33 after the halftime score was 35-21 in a Challenge match played at the Barnard Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The weather was perfect for attacking rugby and that is exactly what the visitors did as outside centre, Ulrich Beyers, and scrumhalf, Embrose Papier, both ran in a hat-trick of tries.

The men from Brakpan did keep themselves in the match as they trailed by 14 points at the break but were blown away by the Blue Bulls XV in the second half.

The Golden Lions XV were made to work hard for their 45-35 (halftime 26-21) win against the Windhoek Draught Welwhitschias in Windhoek on Saturday.

The visitors outscored their opponents by seven tries to five in the capital of Namibia with the home team recording a flawless effort off the kicking tee. —