Ken Borland

The South-Western Districts Eagles ended a disappointing season by going down 31-47 (half-time 17-20) to the Border Bulldogs in their Vodacom Cup match in Queenstown on Saturday.

The Bulldogs went down early to a superb individual try by right wing Clinton Wagman, and conceded two more tries in the first half as they trailed 13-17 deep into injury time.

Border flyhalf Ntabeni Dukisa was on-song with the boot, however, and his two first-half penalties kept the home team in touch before fullback Logan Basson took advantage of an overlap on the left wing to score.

The Eagles relied on their rolling maul to score two tries through flank Shaun Raubenheimer and lock Grant le Roux, but the Bulldogs inched their noses just in front in first-half injury time when scrumhalf Ntando Kebe rounded off a slick move from broken play, Border’s handling being one of their greatest strengths as they ended their campaign on a high.

The Bulldogs took their confidence-booster into the second half and their third try came by way of a penalty try after the Eagles kept spoiling the ball at the ruck.

Dukisa once again kicked the conversion and then added a 48th-minute penalty to put Border 30-17 ahead, but the Eagles cut the gap to 30-24 when centre Cornelius Rautenbach cut through after a tap-penalty, fullback Deroy Rhoode converting.

The Bulldogs were quick to return to Eagles’ territory, however, with loosehead prop Armand Fourie dotting down after a series of forward drives. Dukisa converted and added a penalty and the Bulldogs were almost home and dry with a 40-24 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

Eagles left wing Baldwin McBean and Border replacement scrumhalf Lesley Deen-Ruiters exchanged tries to end the scoring.

Border were able to enjoy their first win of the season, after some close misses, in their final game and no one would have been more delighted than eighthman Lubabalo Mzwakali, who celebrated his 50th game with a brilliant performance.

SCORERS

Border Bulldogs – Tries: Logan Basson, Ntando Kebe, penalty try, Armand Fourie, Lesley Deen-Ruiters. Conversions: Ntabeni Dukisa (5). Penalties: Dukisa (4).

SWD Eagles – Tries: Clinton Wagman, Shaun Raubenheimer, Grant le Roux, Cornelius Rautenbach, Baldwin McBean. Conversions: Deroy Rhoode (3).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120428/Eagles_go_down_to_Bulldogs

The ACT Brumbies swarmed to a 34-20 (half-time 17-6) victory over the Gauteng Lions, putting themselves in pole position in the Australian Conference, in their SuperRugby match at Ellis Park on Friday.

Wing Henry Speight, with two tries, was one of the driving forces for the overwhelming victory, along with the strong running of flyhalf Christian Lealiifano and a dominant forward pack.

The Lions, who are under pressure to maintain their SuperRugby status with the South African Rugby Union having guaranteed the Southern Kings promotion next year, produced an abject display and only rallied to score two tries in the final quarter to narrow the losing margin.

“I’m very happy. The way we carried the ball was so precise, we stuck with things and we put them under real pressure in the 22. We had some great stuff going on on the gain-line and things are starting to come together that we’ve been working on,” Brumbies coach Jake White said after the match.

The Brumbies went behind early to a penalty by Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies, but struck back with a 12th-minute try by prop Ruaidhri Murphy, who ploughed over the line from a ruck set up when Speight was stopped just short of the line after bursting down the blindside wing.

The visitors fell behind again, though, as Jantjies kicked another penalty four minutes later, and the Lions held on to the lead until the 22nd minute as Lealiifano and fullback Jesse Mogg missed three kicks between them.

With scrumhalf Nic White feeding them quick ball from the rucks, the Brumbies backs were a constant threat with their direct running and changes in the point of attack and Speight grabbed his first try after White’s long pass to outside centre Andrew Smith had set up a ruck, from which Lealiifano made a half-break to present the wing with an easy touchdown.

Speight was involved again as the Brumbies scored five minutes before half-time, cutting in from his wing and breaking through the porous Lions defence and popping the ball to Smith to dot down.

The lacklustre Lions had defended poorly and kicked wastefully in the first half and started the second half in even worse fashion as they conceded two tries in the first seven minutes.

Lions fullback Andries Coetzee presented wing Joe Tomane with a welcome gift try as he failed to gather a Mogg grubber and flank Michael Hooper, having hassled the Lions all game at the breakdown, then punished them from the kickoff as he burst clear and set up prop Ben Alexander for a powerful finish.

Speight scored again for the Brumbies in the 58th minute after the Lions twice presented them with turnovers in the 22, stretching the lead to an unassailable 34-6.

The situation was made worse for the Lions in the 63rd minute when replacement centre Butch James charged into a ruck with his shoulder and was yellow-carded. But the home team finished the match as the stronger side, with centre Jaco Taute and loosehead prop Caylib Oosthuizen scoring never-say-die tries at the death, both converted by Jantjies.

“It was our worst defensive performance of the season. We weren’t effective in the tackle and they hurt us with their carry and got enough breaches. They kept hold of their ball while we lost ours and they were more effective at the breakdown. I thought Hooper was outstanding, he’s world-class, that boy,” Lions coach John Mitchell said.

But the Brumbies were the stars of the show with imposing eighthman Fotu Auelua also amongst their heroes and named man of the match.

The Lions have now won just one of their eight matches and face a daunting task when they play the pace-setting Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton on May 5.

The Chiefs will have the chance to extend their lead on top of the standings when they host the Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday.

Scorers

Lions – Tries: Jaco Taute, Caylib Oosthuizen. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalties: Elton Jantjies (2).

Brumbies – Tries: Ruaidhri Murphy, Henry Speight (2), Andrew Smith, Joe Tomane, Ben Alexander. Conversions: Jesse Mogg, Christian Lealiifano.

Flyhalf Morne Steyn had to do the bulk of the scoring with his boot as the Northern Bulls were outscored by five tries to two but still beat the ACT Brumbies 36-34 in their Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Steyn kicked seven penalties, a conversion and a drop goal as the Bulls built a 33-13 lead heading into the final quarter.

But the young Brumbies side made the Bulls look vulnerable at home as they ran in three tries in the last 11 minutes to earn two bonus points.

The GWK Griquas charged to the top of the Vodacom Cup North Section standings as the Leopards criminally wasted a 27-12 halftime lead to lose 42-40 at Profert Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Saturday.

The towering presence of lock Ligtoring Landman loomed with great authority over the Leopards as he scored two tries including the 75th-minute effort that won the match for Griquas.

He also scored in the 32nd minute to bring Griquas back into the game after they had trailed 5-20 thanks to two early tries by the Leopards.

The home side had dominated the opening exchanges and could have led 6-0 after as many minutes but flyhalf Andre Pretorius missed two penalties. He made up for it though as he succeeded with his next seven shots at goal, as well as slotting a drop goal.

The former Springbok had a chance to snatch the spoils for the Leopards at the death, but he was wide with his 77th-minute drop goal attempt.

A seventh-minute penalty by Pretorius was followed by a try by fullback Hoffman Maritz and the conversion and a drop goal by the flyhalf as the Leopards raced into a 13-0 lead after 15 minutes.

But the home crowd knew Griquas, with top spot on the log up for grabs and coming off a defeat last weekend, would come back firing and flank Marnus Schoeman, who was never far from the ball, scored their opening try in the 18th minute.

Eighthman Henro Swart scored for the Leopards six minutes later and Pretorius converted to stretch the lead to 20-5.

Landman then scored his first try and Leopards wing Berty Visser replied and the home side went into the break 27-12 to the good.

But the second half brought a fierce comeback by Griquas. Outside centre Jean Stemmet’s elusive run led to a try two minutes after the break and his midfield partner PJ Vermeulen then scored three minutes later.

Pretorius stepped up to kick a 48th-minute penalty that stretched the Leopards’ lead to six points (30-24).

Griqualand West fullback Rudi Vogt kicked a 56th-minute penalty to make it 27-30, and astute flanker Jonathan Adendorf finally gave the visitors the lead with a try five minutes later.

The vastly-experienced Pretorius knows what pressure kicking is all about and he slotted a 65th-minute penalty to put the Leopards back in front 33-32, but they messed up from the kick-off and conceded a penalty to Vogt almost immediately.

But the Leopards were able to regain possession from the kick-off and they engineered a try to inside centre Adriaan Engelbrecht, which Pretorius converted.

But Griquas had the last say and the five log points they so desperately wanted as Landman dotted down to give them a two-point lead over the Pumas atop the North Section.

The Leopards picked up two bonus points to keep their hopes of making the quarterfinals alive, although they will have to win next weekend and hope the Lions and/or Bulls lose.

SCORERS:

Leopards – Tries: Hoffman Maritz, Henro Swart, Berty Visser, Adriaan Engelbrecht. Conversions: Andre Pretorius (4). Penalties: Pretorius (3). Drop goal: Pretorius.

GWK Griquas – Tries: Marnus Schoeman, Ligtoring Landman (2), Jean Stemmet, PJ Vermeulen, Jonathan Adendorf. Conversions: Rudi Vogt (3). Penalties: Vogt (2).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120421/Griquas_snatch_victory