Luke Watson scored a hat-trick of tries as Vodacom Western Province made it three wins out of four in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division with a 48-7 (halftime 15-0) victory over the Platinum Leopards at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday evening. The home side scored seven tries on their way to a five-point haul that took the Streeptruie into second place on the log. The newly promoted Leopards remain rooted to the bottom of the table following their fourth successive defeat.

A superb kicking performance from Rory Kockott saw the Sharks hand the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs a 21-12 (half-time 9-9) defeat at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Friday. Kockott succeeded with five penalties and a drop goal for a personal tally of 18 points while his kicking from out of hand was also impressive as the scrumhalf turned in a man of the match performance.

The Vodacom Blue Bulls cantered to a 50-18 (half-time 22-3) win over the Boland Cavaliers at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Friday.

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The Sharks overcame three yellow-cards to claim a scrappy 19-13 (half-time 9-3) win over the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Absa Currie Cup match at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Friday. On a chilly night in Durban the home side played 30 minutes of the match with only 14 players after lock Albert van den Berg, flank Jacques Botes and replacement hooker Skipper Badenhorst all spent time in the bin for a variety of offences. Despite handicapping themselves the Sharks handed the Bulls their first defeat of the season thanks to the Durban-based side’s sheer tenacity.

Western Province consigned the Free State Cheetahs to a third consecutive Absa Currie Cup defeat with a 19-13 (halftime 12-6) victory at Newlands on Friday. The home side dominated the encounter, pinching five Cheetahs lineouts and affecting more than half a dozen turnovers as they moved into the top four on the standings with a second win in three matches. Despite the early stage of the season Free State are already in danger of missing out on a semifinal place after a poor start to their campaign that has seen them previously lose to Griquas and the Golden Lions.

The log-leading GWK Griquas made it three out of three with an 80-7 (halftime 33-0) victory over the Boland Cavaliers in Kimberley on Saturday.

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The Sharks scored seven tries on their way to a 46-10 drubbing of the Boland Cavaliers at Absa Stadium in their ABSA Currie Cup encounter on Friday night. Their discipline was nonexistent as they conceded eight penalties in the first half alone. Rory Kockott struck a Cavaliers player with the elbow, which was completely uncalled for and flyhalf Guy Cronjé was yellow carded for a spear tackle in the second half. The other area of concern for the defending champions was the scrums. With Jannie du Plessis called up to the Springbok Tri-Nations squad, the front row of Deon Carstens, Craig Burden and Pat Cilliers was still expected to dominate this facet. Emerging Bok, Cilliers, in particular, struggled with his binding on the tighthead side.

The Lions scratched out a late 31-22 win over the Cheetahs at Coca Cola Park on Saturday. Both teams were on the short end of the stick last weekend so they were keen to get their first win of the Currie Cup season. The match was build around the battle at the breakdown with Lions captain Cobus Grobbelaar up against promising Cheetahs fetcher Johan Wessels. Ultimately, the facet was tightly contested and there was no clear winner.

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Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has made two changes from the team that beat the Sharks last weekend to face the Blue Bulls at Loftus on Saturday.

Sevens star Gio Aplon replaces the injured Joe Pietersen at fullback, while Dewaldt Duvenhage steps in at scrumhalf after Ricky Januarie was called up to the Springbok squad.
Frikkie Welsh will also travel with Western Province to face his former teammates. Welsh recently joined the Western Province from France club Montpellier on a 18-month contract.

The ABSA Currie Cup produced a few shock results in the first round already, giving the competition a juicy start.

The Boland Kavaliers are always a formidable opponent on their home turf, but there were many pundits predicting a win for the Platinum Leopards in the wake of the gutsy showing by the Royal XV – coached by Chaka Willemse and made up largely of Leopards players – against the British & Irish Lions. Boland held firm, however, and beat the Leopards 26 – 18.

The big shock of the round came when the Cheetahs were rolled at home 18 – 28 by the Griquas with the visitors gaining a bonus point and denying their rivals any in Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Vodacom Cup champions sending out a clear warning to the so-called ‘big five’ that they are more than capable of upsetting the apple cart this season. Even away from their rock-hard field in Kimberley.

The least attractive game of the weekend was clearly the dour scrap between the Blue Bulls and the Lions. (more…)