Ken Borland

The Valke hung on to beat the Border Bulldogs 38-36 (half-time 26-10) and uphold the finest traditions of Absa Currie Cup First Division rugby in their match at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park on Saturday.

The match between the two bottom teams on the log was a highly-entertaining affair and it ended with the Valke having stretched their lead over the winless Bulldogs to 12 points.

The Valke led throughout the match and always seemed in control, Border scoring three tries in the last 15 minutes to narrow the final scoreline from 38-17.

The Bulldogs battled to contain the powerful Valke pack and the home side’s forwards started superbly when they kept a rolling maul going long enough for eighthman Reg Muller to plunge over the tryline in the fifth minute.

The conversion from flyhalf Karlo Aspeling was good, but the Bulldogs were on the scoreboard 12 minutes later when flyhalf Jannie Myburgh kicked a penalty (7-3).

The Valke’s second try came via the pace of right wing Sandile Nqcobo, with the conversion from Aspeling stretching their lead to 14-3 in the 20th minute.

Elusive Border scrumhalf Lesley-Dean Luiter evaded the defence to score a try against the run of play in the 26th minute, converted by Myburgh (14-10), but the Valke then lay down the law with two more tries before half-time.

Replacement flank Jacques Alberts bashed his way over the line in the 34th minute, Aspeling missing the conversion. But the disappointment was only temporary as, moments later, fullback JW Bell was strolling over the tryline as well.

Aspeling’s conversion meant the Bulldogs started the second half with a 16-point deficit and they really needed to score first after the break.

But it was the Valke who grabbed the initiative and, nine minutes after half-time, Muller timed his supporting run to perfection and crossed for his second try.

Aspeling converted and now the Bulldogs were in dire straits with a 10-33 deficit.

Veteran Gareth Krause broke through the middle of the ruck from five metres out to rumble over for a converted try, but a sustained period of pressure in the Border half saw centre Hendrik Meyer score a try which gave the Eastern Gautengers a 38-17 lead.

With their whole bench now in action, the Bulldogs staged a gutsy fightback in the last 15 minutes. Replacement lock Tongs Nomani crashed over for a try in the shadow of the posts, converted by replacement flyhalf Reinhard Gerber.

Flank Brian Shabangu, who played very well to the ball the whole match, was then in support in the 75th minute to score the visitors’ bonus-point try and outside centre Ruan Jacobs closed the gap even further when he beat the defence with some nifty footwork to score the last try of the match.

Replacement wing Louis Kruger succeeded with the conversion so the Bulldogs could at least leave Kempton Park with some pride restored … and with two bonus points.

SCORERS:

Valke – Tries: Reg Muller (2), Sandile Nqcobo, Jacques Alberts, JW Bell, Hendrik Meyer. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (4).

Border Bulldogs – Tries: Lesley-Dean Luiter, Gareth Krause, Tongs Nomani, Brian Shabangu, Ruan Jacobs. Conversions: Jannie Myburgh, Reinhard Gerber (2), Louis Kruger. Penalty: Myburgh.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120825/Valke_beat_Border_Bulldogs

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The livewire JD Herbst, playing scrumhalf and wing, scored two dazzling tries to lead the SWD Eagles to a 33-27 (half-time 19-24) victory over a tiring Border Bulldogs team in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Buffalo City Municipal Stadium in East London on Friday.

Herbst, who showed blazing speed off the mark and was an elusive attacker all over the field, was the shining light as the Eagles overcame a flying start by the Bulldogs.

Border scored three first-half tries and played well enough, defending heroically in the second half, to leave their supporters eagerly anticipating their first win in this year’s competition.

Veteran wing Chumani Booi set the ball rolling in the third minute when he showed yet again that he is just one of those people blessed with both great instincts and enduring pace as he stole an intercept and roared away for the opening try.

Seven minutes later, Herbst had the vision and pace as well to break blind and then speed away for the Eagles’ opening try.

Right wing Francois Laatz dashed over in the 16th minute to return the lead to the Bulldogs, but he had the backs inside him to thank for their wonderful handling that created the overlap.

The powerful Eagles forwards had been strangely subdued, but they began to show their strength in the second quarter and flank Shaun Raubenheimer was driven over for the visitors’ second try.

Laatz scored his second try, after he had again been worked into space nicely by the backline, on the half-hour, flyhalf Johan Myburgh kicking his third successive conversion to give Border a 21-12 lead.

But the Eagles closed the gap before half-time as flyhalf Theuns Kotze chipped over the rapidly-advancing Bulldogs defence, reclaimed the ball and then dotted down under the posts, making his second conversion an easy one.

A Myburgh penalty just before the break meant the Eagles were trailling 19-24 heading into the second half, but they produced the sort of powerful forward performance one would normally associate with South-Western Districts rugby to thoroughly dominate the last 40 minutes.

A prolonged period of pressure eventually brought a reward when centre JJ Taljard scored after a neat scissors move, before Herbst sealed the win, and put the cherry on top of his own top-class performance, with his second try with eight minutes remaining. By this stage Herbst had moved from scrumhalf to wing, but the former Matie was still always up with play.

Kotze converted both second-half tries, and there were whoops of delight from the visitors after the final whistle as they moved into third place on the First Division log.

It was a credit to Border that, despite all the mayhem generally happening five metres from their tryline in the second half, they only conceded two tries. But they needed more possession to have any chance of actually winning the match. While they were denied the spoils, Myburgh kicked a late penalty to ensure the Bulldogs did at least get a losing bonus point for their efforts.

The Eagles could even afford to have a player yellow-carded in the second half – fullback Delroy Rhoode spent 10 minutes in the bin after a ham-fisted effort to pull off an intercept saw him only succeed in slapping the ball down from an offsides position.

SCORERS

Border Bulldogs – Tries: Chumani Booi, Francois Laatz (2). Conversions: Johan Myburgh (3). Penalties: Myburgh (2).

SWD Eagles – Tries: JD Herbst (2), Shaun Raubenheimer, Theuns Kotze, JJ Taljard. Conversions: Kotze (4).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120817/Herbst_leads_SWD_Eagles_to_victory

The worst fears that the Griffons have dropped out of Absa Currie Cup First Division contention were confirmed in Welkom on Friday as they lost 36-39 to an after-the-hooter penalty by Juan Kotze of the Valke.

The Griffons, who won their first four matches to set the early pace in the competition, squandered a strong first-half showing and a 22-5 lead to lose their fourth successive game and leave themselves in danger of slipping out of the top four if the SWD Eagles beat the Border Bulldogs on Friday night.

The Valke’s victory was only sealed in the 82nd minute when replacement flyhalf Juan Kotze slotted a 38-metre penalty after Griffons flank Martin Sithole had been caught playing the ball in a ruck while on his knees. This had followed his knock-on which had given the visitors a scrum as normal time finished. This was a horrible ending for the hard-working Sithole, who had enjoyed a fine match before that.

The Valke made the first strike in the game when prop Nicky Engelbrecht went over in the third minute, but this was a false dawn for the Eastern Gautengers as the Griffons scored four tries in reply in the next half-hour.

Engelbrecht’s opposite number, Rudi Britz, was the first to have his say when he rumbled through some lacklustre defending to score, fullback Hansie Graaff having provided a lovely inside-ball to the front-rower.

Graaff was once again pulling the strings just two minutes later when another silky inside pass sent Sithole bursting through and the flank did well to find talismanic Griffons eighthman Nicky Steyn, who dotted down.

The men from the Goldfields were playing like millionaires and, midway through the first half, Steyn, Welkom’s own version of Samson, stormed through the midfield to score his second try.

Graaff was back in the limelight again with seven minutes to go before half-time as he dummied and then dabbed a lovely ball through for wing Reinhardt Erwee to claim and score the Griffons’ fourth try and first bonus point.

But from then on it was an uphill struggle for the Griffons. They produced plenty of flashy rugby, but too many passes slipped from their fingers and the Valke, who had looked like fish out of water in the northern Free State, capitalised on the mistakes.

Centre Thabang Molefe dropped a pass in the shadow of his own poles and, from the resulting scrum, replacement halfback Anrich Richter squirmed and slivered his way over the tryline.

But the home side were still calling the tune at half-time with a 22-10 lead.

But a top-class second half saw the Valke draw level, take the lead, lose the lead and then win the game at the death.

A dropped pass on attack by the Griffons allowed a counter-attack, centre Willie Odendaal racing away and finding fullback JW Bell, who threw a dummy out wide before winning a race to the line with opposite number Graaff.

Busy replacement wing Jaco Oosthuizen then rushed up to force a lineout from his pinpoint up-and-under and, even though the Valke lost their own throw, a sleepy scrumhalf meant they were able to regain possession. A series of big forward drives then took the Valke to under the poles, where they earned a penalty. Bell wasted no time in tapping and dashing over the line past some dazed defenders.

Flyhalf Karlo Aspeling kicked the easy conversion and the Valke were back level at 22-22.

The situation only became worse for the Griffons as Erwee was yellow-carded for holding a man back off the ball as the Valke roared back across the home side’s 22. The penalty was kicked to touch, the lineout won and, after some strong driving play, Richter sniped across the line for his second try.

The scores were level again, though, with 18 minutes remaining when the Griffons second row combined for a fine try – Joubert Horn broke straight through to put the Northern Free Staters on attack, Chris Ehlers muscling over for the try.

The Griffons reclaimed the lead in the 66th minute when Philip Burger, the former Cheetahs and SA Sevens speedster, burst through a gap and sent a lovely long pass out to Sithole, who bumped off a tackler before feeding replacement scrumhalf Oshwill Nortje, who sped away on the angle for the corner and the try.

Graaff’s angled conversion made the score 36-29, but the Valke used their powerful ball-carriers to bash their way back into the Griffons 22. They earned the penalty and Bell once again tapped and dashed to embarrass defenders who were admiring the countryside rather than guarding their tryline.

Kotze’s conversion tied the game up and then came the disappointing final minute for the Griffons, who are rapidly heading down the log after their wonderful start to the campaign.

The Griffons are facing a long, hard struggle if they are to reach the semi-finals now.

SCORERS

GRIFFONS – Tries: Rudi Britz, Nicky Steyn (2), Reinhardt Erwee, Chris Ehlers, Oshwill Nortje. Conversions: Tiaan van Wyk, Hansie Graaff (2).

VALKE – Tries: Nicky Engelbrecht, Anrich Richter (2), JW Bell (3). Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2), Juan Kotze. Penalty: Kotze.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120817/Late_Kotze_penalty_gives_Valke_win

The Regent Boland Cavaliers staged a daring comeback to beat the Border Bulldogs 39-32 (half-time 15-18) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at Buffalo City Municipal Stadium in East London on Saturday.

The Cavaliers scored two tries in the last 10 minutes to snatch the victory, putting an end to the hopes the Bulldogs had of beating the defending champions, especially when they led 32-21 midway through the second half.

Boland made a mound of errors during the match and some of their tackling was more appropriate for those dancers in tutus that former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers was so fond of mentioning.

Border dominated the opening stages to rack up an 18-3 lead, using their backline to great effect as wings Chrislyn van Schalkwyk and Chumani Booi both crossed for tries.

But the Cavaliers managed to claw their way back to just a three-point deficit at the break, through tries to centre Jaquin Jansen and pacy scrumhalf Neil Papier.

The action moved to-and-fro with dazzling speed in the second half, with loose forward Shane Spring opening the scoring for the Bulldogs with his try, converted by fullback Quinton Crocker.

But Jansen was not just a marvellously elusive runner in East London on Saturday, he also added some immaculate goal-kicking to his exploits and his third and fourth penalties kept Boland in touch, even though the Bulldogs ran in their second try of the second half through scrumhalf Lesley-Dean Ruiters.

The Cavaliers had been hard on attack for lengthy periods of the second half, but had been repulsed by impressive Border defence, but the visitors finally found the precision and consistency they had been searching for the whole match in the last 10 minutes.

The whole backline was involved as fullback Eric Zana ran in a superb try and Boland were finally in front when replacement centre Cheswin Williams crossed for the match-winning try in the 72nd minute.

Jansen, who did more than anyone to inspire the victory, then kicked a penalty in the dying moments to seal the win, which was hardly impressive as the Cavaliers played in fits and starts for 70 of the 80 minutes.

For the Bulldogs, scrumhalf Luiters was always in the thick of the action, but it was not enough to continue the hard times the Eastern Cape side are having in this competition.

SCORERS

Border Bulldogs – Tries: Chrislyn van Schalkwyk, Chumani Booi, Shane Spring, Lesley-Dean Luiters, Ruan Jacobs. Conversions: Quinton Crocker (2). Penalty: Crocker.

Regent Boland Cavaliers – Tries: Jaquin Jansen, Neil Papier, Eric Zana, Cheswin Williams. Conversions: Jansen (2). Penalties: Jansen (5).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120811/Boland_Cavaliers_stage_comeback_to_win