Exciting start to Women’s Interprovincial series

The first two rounds in Section 2 of the SARU Women’s Interprovincial Series started off on an exciting note with Free State and the Griffons putting up their hands early on in the A Division, while the Leopards and Griquas made their presence felt in the B Division.

Section 2 of the competition, which started last weekend, features two pools, with the Golden Lions, Griffons, Boland and the Free State in the A Division, and Griquas, the Leopards, Pumas, Limpopo Blue Bulls and the Falcons in the B Division respectively. The teams will battle it out within their respective divisions in the pool stages, with the top two teams respectively meeting in the final in September.

This final will be played on the same day and venue as the Section 1 final. Defending champions Border will meet Western Province and Eastern Province will take on the Blue Bulls in the Section 1 semi-finals in September, with the winners battling it in the final.

In the weekend’s matches the Free State out-scored the Golden Lions seven tries to two for their 39-10 victory at Ellis Park. The Bloemfontein side came out firing on attack, which allowed them to accumulate an impressive 34 points in the first half, while they conceded only one try. The Lions, however, tightened up their defence in the second half, which paid off as they limited the Free State to only one second-half try, while they also managed to score their second five-pointer. This, however, was not enough to undo the visitors’ strong first half.

This defeat marked the Golden Lions’ second of the season, as they went down 32-25 against the Griffons last weekend.

In the B Division, the Leopards and Pumas were involved in a tight tussle in Potchefstroom, with the hosts taking a narrow 7-0 lead at the break. They added two tries in the second half to take their total for the match to three, while the Pumas managed to cross the tryline only once, which allowed them to secure a 19-5 victory.

In last week’s B Division clash, Griquas defeated the Limpopo Blue Bulls 25-10 in Seshego.

Women’s Interprovincial Series results:

Round two results:

Golden Lions 10 – 39 Free State, Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Leopards 19 – 5 Pumas – Profert Olen Park, Potchefstroom

Round one results:

Blue Bulls Limpopo 10-25 Griquas, Seshego Stadium, Seshego

Golden lions 25-32 Griffons, Ellis Park, Johannesburg