The Dotsure SWD Eagles surged to the top of the Carling Currie Cup First Division standings with an emphatic victory over the Griffons in Welkom on Saturday, while the Valke put down a marker against Border at home, and Eastern Province moved into third with a solid win over the Leopards.
The Eagles moved into top spot on the log with a 54-26 away win over the defending champions to remain the only unbeaten team in the competition.
The Valke came close to carding a century as they crushed the Border Bulldogs by 96-19 in Kempton Park to move into second place on the standings, while EP fought back in the second half of their clash in Kariega to beat the Leopards by 40-32.
SWD are now top of the log with 15 points after three rounds, followed by three teams on 11 points. The Valke are second though on points’ difference (+77), with EP third (+26) and the Griffons fourth (+6). The Leopards (five) and the Bulldogs (zero) bring up the rear, with two rounds left before the semifinals.
In Welkom, the Eagles started like a house on fire, scoring four tries in the first 17 minutes – two by Ulrich Stander – to take a 28-7 lead despite conceding a penalty try and losing a player to the sin bin.
The hosts added two tries while SWD responded with their fifth five-pointer late in the first half to take a commanding 35-19 lead at the break.
The Griffons closed the gap with their fourth try early in the second half, but after Stander completed his hat-trick in the 49th minute, it was basically game over for the defending champions.
The Eagles added two late tries, by Xavier Swartbooi and Rune Lucas, to seal an emphatic win away from home.
Although SWD scored an important victory, the biggest win of the weekend belonged to the Valke, who scored 14 tries as they smashed the Border Bulldogs by 96-19 in Kempton Park.
Ezrick Alexander grabbed four as Tylor Sefoor contributed 23 points via a try and nine conversions, while Ilunga Mukendi and Kelvin Kanenungo chipped in with a brace each.
The hosts were in control from the outset at led 54-7 at the break, with Alexander grabbing his hat-trick try shortly after the break before crossing for his fourth with just over 10 minutes remaining, as two yellow cards during the game didn’t help the Bulldogs’ cause at all.
In the third match of the weekend, Eastern Province had to fight back from trailing by 12-15 at the break to beat the Leopards by 40-32 in Kariega.
Both teams scored to first-half tries and converted one, but a penalty goal by Leopards flyhalf Jandre Burger saw his team hit the sheds leading by three.
A second penalty goal by Burger early in the second half pushed the Leopards 18-12 ahead, but two converted tries by CJ Velleman before the hour-mark handed the momentum back to the hosts as they took a 26-18 lead.
That gap was closed to 26-25 with 20 minutes to go, and following a yellow card to EP lock Athenkosi Khethani and a raft of replacements, the Leopards took a 32-26 lead when Brandon Keevy went over with 13 minutes to go.
EP were not done though as they answered with a converted 74th minute try by Liyema Matyolweni and a penalty try in the final minute to seal the win and deny the Leopards a losing bonus point.
Scorers:
Griffons 26 (19), Dotsure SWD Eagles 54 (35)
Griffons – Tries: Hlumza Nondonga, Jandre de Beer, Chyle van Zyl, Penalty try. Conversions: Dehovine Johannes (2).
SWD – Tries: Ulrich Stander (3), Sinalo Jivana, Ewan Coetzee, Hendrik Stemmet, Xavier Swartbooi, Rune Lucas. Conversions: Divan du Toit (6), Fred Zeilinga.
Valke 96 (54), Border Bulldogs 19 (7)
Valke – Tries: Ezrick Alexander (4), Sikho Nanto, Luciano Elias, Ilunga Mukendi (2), Tylor Sefoor, Adrian Joubert, Kelvin Kanenungo (2), Liam Kloosman, Dirk Lourens. Conversions: Sefoor (9), Tireque Apolles (4).
Border – Tries: Khanaye Mbakaza, Sakhe Dingile, Thembela Folo. Conversions: Khanya Kama, Isiphe Mbini.
Eastern Province 40 (12), Leopards 32 (15)
EP – Tries: CJ Velleman (3), Mpho Ntsane, Liyema Matyolweni, Penalty try. Conversions: Jaydon Bantom, Maxwell Klaasen (3).
Leopards – Tries: Siniothando Tshontsyi, Jason Alexander, Hlumelo Ndudula, Brandon Keevy. Conversions: Jandre Burger (3). Penalty goals: Burger (2).