BLOWN WIDE OPEN
Bulldogs cow Cavaliers
ASUPERB performance from the Border Bulldogs blew the South pool wide open as they upset the Boland Cavaliers 29-14 in their SuperSport Rugby Challenge match at the Buffalo City Stadium on Friday night.
The bonus point win means the Bulldogs have now come into the running for the second automatic qualification spot, while Western Province pulled even further away at the top, effectively sealing their progression to the knock outs after a thumping 75-28 win over the Eastern Province Elephants.
It is now set to be an exciting final few weeks of the pool stages with the Cavaliers still in the driver’s seat in second place on the log. However, the South Western District Eagles with a game in hand and the resurgent Bulldogs are looking to make things interesting.
“This was a big boost for us,” said Bulldogs coach Tiger Mangweni.
“We don’t want to get carried away as we still have three games to play, Province away and then two tough home games, so we aren’t thinking about the log and we are just going to focus on our own game and do what we need to do.
“If we can win two of our next three games we will give ourselves a chance, but we will just have to see where we are at the end of that.”
It has been a remarkable turn around for the Bulldogs who lost their opening three games of the competition, with the first being the 51-24 loss against the Cavaliers.
They have now won two on the bounce and have built up some good momentum to take into the last three games of the pool stage.
“We have been building up to this,” said Mangweni.
“We have picked up some confidence now, our fitness is where we want it to be so we have no more excuses, we are match fit and we have to make things happen.
“We are going to keep on working on the things that we are doing right and try and fix the small errors.”
In the match the Bulldogs got off to a fast start with right wing Siphosenkosi Nofemele scoring an unconverted try in the sixth minute and flyhalf Aphiwe Stemele knocking over a monster drop goal a few minutes later for an 8-0 lead.
The Cavaliers then fought their way back into the game, dotting down twice through fullback Jacquin Jansen and hooker Francois Esterhuyzen while flyhalf Elgar Watts slotted both conversions to take a 14-8 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs then came out for the second half guns blazing, retaking the lead in the 44th minute as Somila Mantyoyi rounded off a brilliant break from Nofemele whose one handed offload found the inside centre following up in support.
Neither side could then break through over the next 30 minutes, only for the Bulldogs to run in two long range tries to replacement backs Somila Jho and Sinovuyo Nyoka in the final seven minutes to seal the bonus point victory.
“What made us win this game was that we were disciplined, playing in the right areas, putting them under a lot of pressure and our defence was solid,” explained Mangweni.
“It was drizzling before the game, so the conditions were wet, so I told the players let’s play in their half and we can force them to make errors, which we didn’t manage to do in the first half but we did that in the second and it made the difference in the end.”
Next up for the Bulldogs will be a daunting trip to play the unbeaten defending champions Western Province this coming weekend.