Ken Borland

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

The Valke, with their pack making the hard yards, successfully stymied the dangerous Border backs as they beat the Bulldogs 33-11 (half-time 19-6) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at Buffalo City Municipal Stadium in East London on Friday.

The Valke’s dominant, bulky pack was able to make life very difficult for the Bulldogs backs, who had to put up with back-foot ball almost throughout the game.

The weather might have been cooler in East London, but the Valke were hot, with flank Jacques Nieuwenhuis, freshly back from France, and flyhalf Karlo Aspeling revelling in the platform provided by their tight forwards.

Aspeling showed the silky handling skills of flyhalves in a bygone era as he dummied his way through for the opening try, in the fifth minute, and his deceptive running also set up the try on the stroke of half-time by centre Willie Odendaal that gave the Valke a 19-6 lead.

The Valke then scored in the first minute of the second half as Nieuwenhuis charged over and, even though the Bulldogs replied with a fine try by eighthman Lubabalo Mzwakali, it was a forlorn enterprise as the Gautengers remained in control and added to their tally with a second try to Namibian international Nieuwenhuis.

Aspeling’s fine game also extended to his kicking, as he also slotted four conversions.

The Valke’s other try came in the 38th minute as they kept things tight and hooker Werner du Preez, a tidy replacement, forced his way over the line.

While Aspeling was one of the standout players, he was well-served by scrumhalf Jaco Snyman, who invariably took the right options. The Valke were also helped by having two formidable locks in Johann de Bruin and Christopher Yearsley.

SCORERS

Border Bulldogs – Try: Lubabalo Mzwakali. Penalties: Reinhard Gerber (2).

Valke – Tries: Karlo Aspeling, Werner du Preez, Willie Odendaal, Jacques Nieuwenhuis (2). Conversions: Aspeling (4).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120706/Valke_beat_Bulldogs