Ken Borland

The well-drilled EP Kings were in firm control in the second half as they beat the Border Bulldogs 35-19 (half-time 10-6) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Buffalo City Municipal Stadium in East London on Friday.

Credit must be given to the Kings management for their effective game plan and for keeping the team focused after a frustrating first half.

The Kings, physically superior to the gutsy but outmatched Bulldogs, used their most effective weapon, the rolling maul, well as eighthman Cornell du Preez scored a hat-trick of tries from that tactic.

Du Preez benefited because the Kings were without the services of marquee player Luke Watson, but he was not missed as the sheer physicality and forward power of Eastern Province always gave them the edge over the Bulldogs.
The home side were reduced to surviving on scraps of possession and their banditry did bring them a fine try by eighthman Theunis Lambrechts and four penalties in a brave display.

Border scored first through a seventh-minute penalty by flyhalf Reinhardt Gerber and the Kings only opened their account in the 17th minute when flyhalf Wesley Dunlop slotted a penalty.

The Bulldogs had their best try-scoring chance of the first half six minutes later when an up-and-under by Quinton Crocker was brilliantly claimed by wing Chumani Booi, who then fed the fullback up in support. But Crocker decided to cut inside instead of heading for the tryline as powerful Samoan wing Paul Perez came charging across in cover defence, leading to a ruck and a penalty for Border, which Gerber missed.

By now the Kings were using their dominance in the collisions to good effect and Du Preez scored their first try after 10 phases of driving play. Dunlop converted and, although Gerber cut the deficit to 6-10 with another penalty, the excitement was still upcoming as Eastern Province finally hit fifth gear straight after half-time.

Dunlop, one of the people to relocate to Port Elizabeth in the wake of the Kings’ promotion to SuperRugby, kicked a penalty soon after the restart and the Bulldogs were immediately pinned back in their 22 and desperately trying to defend a series of forward drives that led to a couple of penalties. Border were unable to defend the rolling maul off the lineout and Du Preez had his second try in the 45th minute.

Strong running by Perez and centre Tiger Mangweni then displaced the Bulldogs defence in the 51st minute, leading to another Dunlop penalty (23-6).

But Border have their attacking routines well-rehearsed and a counter-attack allowed them to record their third penalty in the 57th minute, kicked by replacement flyhalf Jannie Myburgh.

Du Preez’s hat-trick try probably won’t make the season’s highlights reel as it came from yet another rolling maul, stretching the Eastern Province lead to 28-9 on the hour mark.

Bulldogs captain and flank Gareth Krause managed to latch on to the ball in a ruck and force a penalty, kicked by Myburgh, three minutes later, but the outcome was settled with the home side trailing 12-28.

The best two tries of the match followed in the last 13 minutes, with Mangweni scything through to add another try to his considerable album, before Border eighthman Lambrechts claimed a loose pass and then showed great deternination to grab his try, bouncing off Mangweni, eluding two other tacklers and then barging through replacement wing Siyanda Grey on his way over the line.

It was merely a consolation score for the Bulldogs but, to their credit, they showed little evidence of low morale after suffering their 11th successive defeat.

SCORERS

BORDER BULLDOGS – Try: Theunis Lambrechts. Conversion: Jannie Myburgh. Penalties: Reinhardt Gerber (2), Myburgh (2).

EP KINGS – Tries: Cornell du Preez (3), Tiger Mangweni. Conversions: Wesley Dunlop (3). Penalties: Dunlop (3).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120907/EP_Kings_beat_Bulldogs_in_EL

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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 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