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Elephants Trampled by Western Province

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No less than 56 tries were scored across the rugby fields of South Africa as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge kicked off in impressive fashion this weekend.

On Sunday, 22 of those came from the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele, Port Elizabeth – the venue of the first Rugby Festival, which is unique to the SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

In the main match, DHL Western Province started the defence of their title in impressive fashion, beating the EP Elephants 59-12, scoring nine tries to two. The vision of the visiting backs to spot gaps in the EP defence proved decisive, with three of their first half tries coming from such play, to contribute to a 26-7 lead at the break.

The second half saw more excellent tries from the Cape side as they used their bench to good effect.

Earlier on Sunday, the Boland Cavaliers romped home 51-24 (halftime 8-17) against the Border Bulldogs, also at the Wolfson Stadium. It was expected that the East London team would be coming in cold due to their lack of preparation, but their start surprised all.

Two tries in the first half gave them some momentum and when Athenkosi Manentsa scored his second for Border early in the second half, they were still in the match. That competiveness disappeared quickly though as the heat and lack of preparation then started to affect the Bulldogs efforts.

The Boland side started to score at will, and winger Charles Mayeza bagged himself a hat-trick.

Four matches were played on Saturday.

The Hino Valke scored six tries on their way to a comprehensive 39-7 (halftime 27-0) victory over the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek.

The visitors all but sealed the result in the first half, with three tries for a 27-0 lead.

Credit to the home side who rallied in the second half, scoring a converted try and only allowing the Valke to dot down twice more, with the last try after the final hooter.

In Kimberley, Tafel Lager Griquas winger Enver Brandt scored a hat-trick of tries as his team beat the Cell C Sharks XV 50-33 (halftime 29-14) at Tafel Lager Park in Kimberley.

Last year’s losing finalists scored seven tries to add a bonus point to the four for the victory, while the Sharks picked up a bonus point themselves for scoring five tries in the Central Section encounter.

The opening 20 minutes were tight, but once Brandt showed his pace, the home side extended their lead to 15 at the break. The visitors came back strongly in the second half, but could not close the gap in the entertaining clash.

In Nelspruit, it was a dream start to former FNB Maties flyhalf, Chris Smith’s, provincial career. The iCOLLEGE Pumas pivot kicked 21 points and delivered a polished performance as his side beat the Vodacom Blue Bulls 36-18 at the Nelspruit Rugby Club.

Smith, who was a member of the 2018 Varsity Cup-winning team from Stellenbosch, landed five penalty goals and converted all three tries as the home side romped away in the second half.

The score was close at the break, with the home side enjoying a slender 20-18 lead, but the visitors could not add to that in the second stanza, with Smith’s boot pushing the match further and further away from them.

In Schweizer-Reneke, the Down Touch Griffons scored seven tries as they beat the Leopards 47-21.

The Welkom team scored three times before the break and four more in the second half. The Leopards could only muster one try in the first half, and although they scored two more in the second half, they Griffons continued to outplay them.

A breakdown of the weekend’s results and scorers:

EP Elephants 12 (7), DHL Western Province 59 (26)

Scorers:

  • EP Elephants. Tries: Alandre van Rooyen, Dries van Schalkwyk. Conversion: Henrique Olivier
  • DHL Western Province. Tries: Jean-Luc du Plessis (2), Duncan Saal (2), Tristan Leyds, Grant Hermanus (2), Chad Solomon, Michal Hazner. Conversions: Joshua Stander (5), Grant Hermanus (2).

Boland Cavaliers 51 (8), Border Bulldogs 24 (17)

Scorers:

  • Boland Kavaliers. Tries: Charles Mayeza (3), Zandré Jordaan, Sergio Torrens, Edwin Sass, Clinton Theron, Jovelian de Koker. Conversions: Elgar Watts (4). Penalty: Elgar Watts
  • Border Bulldogs. Tries: Billy Dutton, Athenkosi Manentsa (2). Conversions: Bangi Kobese (2). Penalty: Bangi Kobese.

Leopards 21 (7), Down Touch Griffons 47 (19)

Scorers:

  • Leopards: Tries: Eugene Hare, Gene Willemse, HP Swart. Conversions: DP de Lange, Schalk Hugo (2).
  • Down Touch Griffons: Tries: Jean Pretorius (2), Juan Kotze, Arthur Williams, Duan Pretorius (2), Warren Williams. Conversions: Jaun Kotze (6).

Windhoek Draught Welwitschias 7 (0), Hino Valke 39 (27)

Scorers:

  • Windhoek Draught Welwitschias: Try: Janre du Toit. Conversion: Eugene Jantjies.
  • Hino Valke: Tries: Friedle Olivier (2), Don Mlondobozi, Andre du Plessis, Nazeem Wood, Andries Schutte. Conversions: Du Plessis (2), Errol Jaggers. Penalty: Du Plessis.

 iCOLLEGE Pumas 39 (20), Vodacom Blue Bulls 18 (18)

Scorers:

  • iCOLLEGE Pumas: Tries: JP Lewis, Stefan Ungerer, Nardus van der Walt. Conversions: Chris Smith (3). Penalties: Smith (5).
  • Vodacom Blue Bulls: Tries: Jade Stighling, Earll Douwrie. Conversion: Douwrie. Penalties: Douwrie (2)

 Tafel Lager Griquas 50 (29), Cell C Sharks XV 33 (14)

Scorers:

  • Tafel Lager Griquas: Tries: Enver Brandt (3), AJ le Roux (2), Jono Janse van Rensburg, Louis Venter. Conversions: Andre Swarts (3), Pieter-Steyn de Wet (3). Penalty: Swarts.
  • Cell C Sharks XV: Tries: Ilunga Mukendi (2), Grant Williams, Jeremy Ward, Morne Joubert. Conversions: Garth April (3), Courtney Winnaar.
  •  

Leading points’ scorers after Round One

  1. Chris Smith (iCOLLEGE Pumas) 21
  2. Jaun Kotze (Down Touch Griffons) 19
  3. Charles Mayeza (Boland Cavaliers)/Enver Brandt (Tafel Lager Griquas) 15
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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.