Ken Borland

The Border Bulldogs were rolled over easily as the Ford Pumas thumped them 41-10 (half-time 24-3) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.

The scoreline certainly did not lie in terms of the Pumas’ dominance as their powerful pack took firm control in damp conditions and their backline had more pace and precision than their Bulldogs counterparts.

The bonus-point win maintained the Pumas’ challenge for top spot, although the EP Kings are still in prime positon with an eight-point lead over the Mpumalanga side with two rounds of league play remaining.

The Pumas took a little while to settle in front of 14 305 people at Mbombela Stadium, but they opened the scoring in the 15th minute as star fullback Coenie van Wyk crossed for a thrilling try.

Border flyhalf Reinhardt Gerber pulled three points back for the Bulldogs with a 22nd-minute penalty, but the rest of the half was a cruise for the Pumas as they comfortably adapted to the wet conditions, thanks to their gritty forwards.

Scrumhalf Shaun Venter, who sparked numerous attacks, went over for the Pumas’ second try two minutes later and centre and captain JW Jonker showed his experience as he glided over three minutes later.

The reliable boot of flyhalf Naas Olivier accounted for all three conversions and the well-travelled 30-year-old also kicked a penalty in the 34th minute to ensure the Pumas reached the break in firm control.

Olivier also began the second-half scoring with a penalty, stretching the lead to 27-3 and, just two minutes later, the Pumas quickly spread the ball wide and wing Wilhelm Loock, who gave a typically passionate display, crossed for the try.

Despite looking all at sea for the last half-hour, the Bulldogs did manage to score a try of their own through centre Neill Jacobs, with Gerber turning it into a seven-pointer with the conversion.

But the Pumas rounded-off an action-packed display as Venter punched his way through for his second try and Mpumalanga’s fifth overall.

The Punas will go into their last two round-robin games needing to make up ground on the Kings to qualify for a home final.

The crunch game is next Friday against the Kings at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with the Pumas then finishing the league section against the Griffons back at the Mbombela Stadium.

SCORERS

FORD PUMAS – Tries: Coenie van Wyk, Shaun Venter (2), JW Jonker, Wilhelm Loock. Conversions: Naas Olivier (4), Carl Bezuidenhout. Penalties: Olivier (2).

BORDER BULLDOGS – Try: Neill Jacobs. Conversion: Reinhardt Gerber. Penalty: Gerber.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120915/Pumas_thump_Bulldogs_in_Nelspruit

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 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