Currie Cup Premier Division delivered a big dose of drama on its opening weekend
On Saturday afternoon, the Xerox Golden Lions showed a lot of character, relying on four tries by their speedy winger Madosh Tambwe for a come-from-behind victory over an impressive Phakisa Pumas side at Emirates Airline Park.
The Currie Cup Premier Division delivered a big dose of drama – and an upset – on its opening weekend in Durban, a come-from-behind humdinger in Johannesburg, and a typically tough North/South derby in Cape Town.
On July 12 at Jonsson Kings Park, Tafel Lager Griquas started their Currie Cup campaign in impressive fashion by dismantling the defending champions, the Cell C Sharks, by 37-13, pulling away in the second half after leading by 10-6 at the break.
Wilmar Arnoldi, replacement hooker, scored two tries for the visitors from the Northern Cape, who top the log after the first round.
On Saturday afternoon, the Xerox Golden Lions showed a lot of character, relying on four tries by their speedy winger Madosh Tambwe for a come-from-behind victory over an impressive Phakisa Pumas side at Emirates Airline Park.
The visitors from the Lowveld took a 37-21 lead with 20 minutes to go, but the men from Johannesburg never gave up and won by 38-37 after Shaun Reynolds scored and converted the winning try with a minute of time left on the clock.
And in the final match of the weekend, the DHL Western Province pack delivered a massive scrumming performance that crushed the Vodacom Blue Bulls’ chances in a hard-fought encounter, won 20-5 by the Capetonians at DHL Newlands.
The visitors’ forwards were under immense pressure at scrum time and were subsequently heavily penalised, which ensured valuable momentum for the men in blue and white hoops, especially in the second half after the teams went into the break with the scores tied at 5-5.
Tafel Lager Griquas and the Xerox Golden Lions both got a hull-house of five log points for their efforts, while the Toyota Free State Cheetahs had a bye.
Currie Cup First division results
The Jaguares XV showed they are the real deal in the Currie Cup First Division outplaying Boland 54-17 in Potchefstroom on Saturday, while defending champions, SWD, beat the Leopards 38-18.
The Bolanders are having a good season, but they were totally outplayed by the slick Argentinians, who laid down a serious marker after they outplayed the Down Touch Griffons in Welkom last week, while SWD just showed how tough they will be playing in George.
There were some joy for travelling teams though, the Down Touch Griffons edged the EP Elephants by 23-19 in Port Elizabeth, while the Valke won 36-19 against Border in East London.
