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 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