The Sanlam Boland Kavaliers recorded a bonus-point victory over Eastern Province in Gqeberha on Saturday afternoon to seal fourth spot in the SA Cup which guarantees them a place in the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division for the 2025 season.
The Kavaliers will travel to Nelspruit for their SA Cup semifinal against the Airlink Pumas, who finished top of the log, while the defending champions, Suzuki Griquas, are home against Toyota Cheetahs in next weekend’s other semifinal following the final round of league fixtures played on Saturday.
The Pumas, Griquas, Cheetahs and Boland booked their spots in the #SACup semi-finals and qualified for the Carling #CurrieCup Premier Division - more here: https://t.co/wCRzKeqJZG 👏#LetsPlayRugby pic.twitter.com/5uBWhDetRA
— The Carling Currie Cup (@TheCurrieCup) May 10, 2025
The Bolanders edged the Valke into fourth spot after grabbing the last semifinal spot on offer with a 36-22 bonus-point victory at the Madibaz Stadium in Gqeberha.
Playing at home in Kimberley, Griquas scored two late tries for an exciting 31-29 win over the Cheetahs; the unbeaten Pumas halted the NovaVit Griffons’ qualification bid with a 48-7 victory; the Valke galloped to a 72-28 win over the Border Bulldogs, and the Leopards finished the competition with a 47-35 win over the Phangela SWD Eagles in Potchefstroom.
The Pumas finished the league phase with a full house of 45 points after nine rounds, with Griquas second on 42 points.
The leading two were followed by the Cheetahs (34 points), Boland (32), Valke (30), Griffons (26), EP (21), Leopards (10), SWD (8) and Border (3).
The outcome of the Saturday’s final league round therefore means that Pumas, Griquas, Cheetahs and Boland have booked their places in the 2025 Carling Currie Cup Premier Division alongside the Vodacom Bulls, Fidelity ADT Lions, Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Western Province.
The SA Cup semifinals will be staged next weekend, with the final scheduled for 24 May.
The Carling Currie Cup Premier Division kicks off on Friday 26 July and the final will be staged on Saturday 20 September, while the First Division – comprising of Eastern Province, Border, Griffons, Leopards, Eagles and Valke – is set to start on 14 June and conclude with the final on 26 July.
BOLAND BEAT EP
Before their final league game, the fourth-placed Boland had their destiny in their own hands because all they needed was a positive outcome against EP in Gqeberha, and the team from Wellington scored five tries to three to secure a return to the Premier Division for the first time since 2016.
Boland fullback James Tedder had a good game, keeping his side on the front foot with a solid kicking game and succeeding with four conversions and a penalty goal for a personal tally of 11 points.
HP van Schoor, Ashlon Davids, Sidney Tobias, Michael Benadie, and Erik Lambrecht crossed for tries against EP.
Replacement fullback Enrique Franks made a good impact off the bench for the hosts by scoring two tries, but his efforts were not good enough as the Kavaliers held firm for that crucial win.
VALKE ROMP NOT ENOUGH
The Valke still had an outside chance of gaining fourth spot, but for that to happen Boland had to lose in the Eastern Cape, which didn’t materialise.
The East Randers still scored 12 tries to four in their 72-28 romp over the Border Bulldogs in Kempton Park.
The hosts were 48-21 ahead by the halfway mark and switched to a higher gear in the second period to run out comfortable winners against the gallant Bulldogs.
Valentino Wellman scored four tries on the left wing, while loose forwards Tiaan Jonker and Zingisa April each crossed for two five-pointers.
For Border, Oliver Zono converted all four their tries, while Sakhe Dingile grabbed a brace of tries.
PUMAN REMAIN UNBEATEN
The Pumas gained their ninth win on the bounce to stay unbeaten when they defeated the NovaVit Griffons 48-7 in Nelspruit.
The hosts held a 24-0 lead at halftime and went on to score eight tries to one in a comfortable victory.
Eddie Swart scored twice for the team from Mpumalanga, while Danrich Visagie and Clinton Swart converted two tries each.
GRIQUAS EDGE CHEETAHS
Griquas and the Cheetahs scored five tries apiece in their clash in Kimberley, but the hosts claimed the win with two five-pointers in the last few minutes in this exciting fixture.
The Free Staters led 10-7 at the break, but Griquas kicked into gear in the second half.
The two sides will meet again next week in Kimberley, which means that Griquas have landed an early psychological blow with this narrow win.
LEOPARDS CLAW EAGLES
Leopards led by 19-11 at the break of their final match of the competition, before they kicked on in the second half, scoring seven times to five, to bag a 47-35 win over the SWD Eagles in Potchefstroom.
Siniothando Tshontsyi, Brandon Keevy and Naiden Jaarts all scored two tries each for the Leopards, while Shaun Baxter hit the target with all six conversion kicks.
SWD No 8 Leighton van Wyk had an outstanding game for the visitors, and he was rewarded with a hat-trick of tries, while Roshwin Abrahams kicked two penalty goals.
Scorers:
Eastern Province 22 (3), Sanlam Boland Kavaliers 36 (21)
EP – Tries: Enrique Franks (2), Jayden Bantom. Conversions: Bantom, Chadwin November. Penalty goal: November.
Boland – Tries: HP van Schoor, Ashlon Davids, Sidney Tobias, Michael Benadie, Erik Lambrecht. Conversions: James Tedder (4). Penalty goal: Tedder.
Valke 72 (48), Border Bulldogs 28 (21)
Valke – Tries: Valentino Wellman (4), Zingisa April (2), Tiaan Jonker (2), Mihlali Stamper, Liam Kloosman, Sergio Stalmeester, Adrian Joubert. Conversions: Kloosman (2), Stalmeester (2), Mbembe Payi (2).
Border – Tries: Sakhe Dingile (2), Larry Nkonki, Zenande Mdledle. Conversions: Oliver Zono (4).
Airlink Pumas 48 (24), NovaVit Griffons 7 (0)
Pumas – Tries: Eddie Swart (2), Darnell Osuagwu, Tino Swanepoel, Lundi Msenge, Ntsika Fisanti, Duard Deichmann, Clinton Swart. Conversions: Swart (2), Danrich Visagie (2).
Griffons – Try: Jared Kruger. Conversion: Andrew Kota.
Suzuki Griquas 31 (7), Toyota Cheetahs 29 (10)
Griquas – Tries: Cameron Hufke, Dylan Maart, Bobby Alexander, Gurshwin Wehr, Zane Bester. Conversions: George Whitehead (3).
Cheetahs – Tries: Tiaan Swanepoel, Carel-Jan Coetzee, Neels Volschenk, James Verity-Amm, Jandre Nel. Conversions: Swanepoel, Cohen Jasper.
Leopards 47 (19), Phangela SWD Eagles 35 (11)
Leopards – Tries: Siniothando Tshontsyi (2), Brandon Keevy (2), Naiden Jaarts (2), Luan van der Walt. Conversions: Shaun-Christian Baxter (6).
SWD – Tries: Leighton van Wyk (3), Stephan Leonard, Eric Zana. Conversions: Sachin Toring (2). Penalty goals: Roshwin Abrahams (2)