Boland in late-surge triumph
EP Kings go down 40-27 in entertaining Currie Cup match
ALATE try surge from the Boland Cavaliers allowed them to run out 40-27 winners over the EP Kings in an entertaining Currie Cup first division clash at the Wolfson Stadium.
The game dished up 10 tries and Kings coach Ryan Felix will take many positives forward into his team’s next outing against the Welwitschias in Windhoek.
There were four tries for the Kings and they were brave in defence until the floodgates opened, with Boland scoring three tries in the final 10 minutes to put the issue beyond doubt.
For the Kings, there were two tries for experienced centre Siyanda Grey, while Cody Basson and Sonwabo Majola also crossed for the home side.
The Bolanders held a slender 14-7 lead at the break, against a Kings side who have not enjoyed much preseason training time in the build-up to their opening game.
The scores were locked at 7-7 until the final act of the first half, when the Kings suffered a double blow.
First they had Basson yellow-carded and then later Ludio Williams crashed over for Boland’s second try, which was converted by Divan Nel.
The Kings scored the first points after half time, when Simon Bolze nailed a penalty from 40m out to leave the hosts trailing 14-10.
Bolze then missed a much easier shot at the posts before Boland hit back with a try from Charles Mayeza.
Three minutes after returning from the sin bin, fiery Kings No 8 Basson found a way through the Boland defence. The Kings took the lead for the first time after 65 minutes when the strong-running Grey crossed for his team’s third try after a well executed move down the touchline.
Boland were first on the scoreboard in the fifth minute after neat interplay which saw Sergio Torrens going over for a well-worked try.
The Kings were not afraid to give the ball air, and they put the Cavaliers defence under pressure when they took the fight to the visitors during the opening exchanges.
But their early efforts to put points on the board were met with stout Boland defence.
The Bolanders were always quick on the counter-attack and were dominant at scrum time.
The Kings were able to keep the Bolanders at bay and broke away for their opening try when centre Grey powered his way through for a try just before the break.
Scorers:
EP Kings 27: Tries: Siyanda Grey (2), Cody Basson, Sonwabo Majola. Conversions: Simon Bolze (2). Penalty: Simon Bolze.
Boland Cavaliers 40: Tries: Sergio Torrens, Ludio Williams (2), Charles Mayeza (2), Arnout Malherbe. Conversions: Divan Nel (5).
ý In another Currie Cup first division clash, the Griffons edged the Welwitschias 66-59.
The high-scoring encounter saw a total of 19 tries as the crowd were kept entertained for 80 minutes.
Four first-half tries by the home side allowed them to grab maximum points in the season opener.
The Griffons outscored the Welwitschias by 10 tries to nine.
There was a hat-trick for inside centre Arthur-William Williams and a brace apiece for Selvyn Davids and Vuyo Mbotho.
The other tries for the Griffons were scored by Barend Potgieter, Kwezi Mkhafu and Andrew du Plessis.
Tries for the visitors came via a hat-trick from Darryl de la Harpe, Johan Tromp, Jan Booysen, Shaun du Preez, Macho Prinsloo, Lesley Kim and Maharua Katjijeko.