Junior Boks finish World Cup warm-ups on a high
AND CORRESPONDENT GRIQUAS remain unbeaten in the new provincial tournament after beating an enthusiastic Vodacom Blue Bulls 39-38 (half-time 17-14) at Griqua Park in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon.
The Peacock Blues have now won seven consecutive games and with 33 points on the log have seemingly put beyond doubt the fact that they will be playing in this year’s Currie Cup Premier Division.
Building on their good momentum from the last couple of weeks, Griquas will now travel to Cape Town for their next encounter against DHL Western Province next Saturday. The Blue Bulls, still with only a single victory to their name, will lick their wounds before they take on the Leopards at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Bulls started well, with flanker Roelof Smit crossing the whitewash as early as the 14th minute after Griquas missed an earlier penalty. Bulls flyhalf Joshua Stander added the extra two points to give the visitors a head start.
Griquas recovered quickly, with centre Jonathan Francke scoring a try only three minutes later. The conversion by fullback Gouws Prinsloo, who did not have the best afternoon with his kicking boot, levelled the scores with 20 minutes in the first half left to play.
Smit continued with his impressive form by scoring the second of his three tries on the afternoon after some good pressure on attack by the Bulls. Stander, who converted all five of the Bulls’ tries, opened the lead to seven points once again.
Winger Ederies Arendse kept his side within striking distance with his try five minutes from halftime, with flyhalf Andre Swarts, who took over the kicking duties, converting and also kicking a late penalty to give Griquas a hardfought lead of 17-14 at the break.
The hosts came out all guns blaz- THE VODACOM Bulls defeated the DHL Stormers 1713 in a typical, tense South African derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening to keep their unbeaten home record in this year’s campaign intact.
They also halted a run of four Super Rugby losses in a row against their Cape Town rivals.
As expected, the first half delivered an uncompromising stint, with both sides determined to battle it out for supremacy via the forward route. Two penalties each by flyhalves Jean-Luc du Plessis and Francois Brummer meant the sides went into half-time locked at 6-6.
The Cape side scored their only try of the match through Springbok midfielder Damian de Allende, playing in his 50th Super Rugby match, who crashed over in the 67th minute. Du Plessis succeeded with the conversion to bring his side straight back into the match at 14-13.
But an excellent a dropgoal by replacement flyhalf Tian Schoeman eventually ing in the second half, with Francke scoring his second of the afternoon and Swarts converting to leave the Bulls stunned. Another penalty by Stander settled the visitors’ nerves somewhat and they got back into the game as Smit completed his hattrick soon thereafter.
A penalty by Swarts meant Griquas kept their noses in front, but two quick tries to the Bulls via flanker Renaldo Bothma and fullback Duncan Matthews had the hosts in trouble. Their unbeaten record dangling on a string, replacement Clinton Swart and captain and winger AJ Coertzen dug deep and both scored to help snatch victory from the Bulls’ grasp.
SCORERS GRIQUAS – 39 (17) Tries: Jonathan Francke (2), Ederies Arendse, Clinton Swart, AJ Coertzen. Conversions: Gouws Prinsloo, André Swarts (2), Clinton Swart. Penalties: André Swarts (2). BLUE BULLS – 38 (14) Tries: Roelof Smit (3), Renaldo Bothma, Duncan Matthews. Conversions: Joshua Stander (5); Penalty: Joshua Stander. SOUTH AFRICAN GROUP P W D L 11 8 0 3 11 7 1 3 12 7 1 4 11 6 1 4 11 3 0 8 11 2 0 9 11 1 1 9 11 1 0 10 Lions (Q) Bulls (Q) Sharks (Q) Stormers Cheetahs Jaguares Sunwolves Kings clinched the match for the Pretoria-side.
As a result of their hardfought win, the Bulls have moved into top place on the African Conference 1 ladder. Although they have the same amount of points as the Stormers, namely 32 points, the Pretoria franchise grabbed first position because of their better points margin.
Consolidated
Pts 37 32 35 32 16 13 9 4
Africa Conference 2 leaders, the Emirates Lions, consolidated their top-spot by scoring another impressive 52-24 win over the Jaguares in their early Saturday afternoon fixture in Johannesburg. THE JUNIOR Springboks on Saturday finished their warm-up games for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship unbeaten after registering a morale-boosting 58-14 victory against SWD at the Bridgton Sports Grounds in Oudtshoorn.
The World Rugby Under-20 Championship will be hosted in Manchester, England, from June 725, with the Junior Boks taking on Japan, Argentina and France in the pool stages.
The Junior Boks started the clash against SWD with a bang, with centre Franco van den Berg rounding off a fantastic try in the eighth minute from a turnover in which he bounced off a defender to dash to the tryline. Fullback Curwin Bosch converted the try to hand the team a 7-0 lead.
Bosch added a try three minutes later after finding space out wide and dashing around the defence to touch down in the corner to extend their lead to 14-0.
Speedy wing Mosolwa Mafuma added the Junior Boks’ third try in the 25th minute after flanker Zain Davids forced his way through a gap in the middle of the field, and the ball was sent out to Mafuma, who outsprinted the defence. The successful conversion stretched the score to 21-0.
SWD hit back in the 32nd minute with a try after finding a gap in the midfield. But this was cancelled out minutes later as Junior Boks prop Kwenzo Blose scored the team’s fourth try after a series of phases, with Bosch adding his fourth con-
Meanwhile in Durban, the Cell C Sharks continued with their improved form of late by overpowering the Southern Kings 53-0.
The Kings defended much better in the second half and they only conceded two more tries following the home side’s scoring spree of 43 points in the opening stanza.
The team from Durban moved to within two points of Africa 2 Conference leaders, the Lions, who have collected 37 points from 11 matches. The Sharks (35) have played one more game than the team from the Highveld.
Elsewhere, the Crusaders defeated the Waratahs 29-10 in their Friday fixture in Christchurch.
In Brisbane, the Reds fought off a late rally by the Sunwolves to emerge as 35-25 winners. The Chiefs were too strong for the Rebels and they won their home fixture 36-15 in Hamilton, while in Perth the visiting Blues edged the Western Force 17-13 in a tight affair.
The Toyota Cheetahs, along with the Brumbies, the Highlanders and the Hurricanes were not in action this weekend. – ANA version for a 28-7 lead.
SWD fought back with intent in the closing minutes of the half, but the Junior Boks absorbed the pressure well and managed to deny them from adding to their score.
The Junior Boks wasted no time inflating their score in the second half, as flyhalf Manie Libbok picked up a loose ball from an SWD knock-on and cruised to the tryline seven minutes after the whistle for a 35-7 lead.
SWD, however, tightened up their defence and put together more phases on attack, which proved to be effective at containing the Junior Boks.
The home team were rewarded for their attacking efforts in the 56th minute as they put their forwards to good use to score their second try, but the Junior Boks responded with three penalties by Bosch for a 44-14 lead.
The national side completed the match with two late tries by Bosch and replacement back Edwill van der Merwe, which Bosch converted to secure a 58-14 victory. Libbok broke through the midfield and passed out wide to Bosch for his try, while Van der Merwe picked up a grubber kick to score the final try.
Bosch’s two tries, three penalties and seven conversions earned him a personal points tally 33 points in the match.
Junior Springbok coach Dawie Theron was pleased with the performance and described it as a solid display. But he said there were still areas of their game they needed to improve before they depart for Manchester on June 2.