Currie Cup Roundup – Week 2

An exciting week two in the ABSA Currie Cup saw plenty of upsets.

Results for Week 2:

Fri 29th June: Valke 11 v 45 Free State Cheetahs (Brakpan)
Sat 30th June: Boland 15 v 10 Western Province (Wellington)
Sat 30th June: Griquas 26 v 18 Blue Bulls (Kimberley)
Sat 30th June: Lions 14 – 7 Sharks (Johannesburg)

Fri 29th June: Valke 11 v 45 Free State Cheetahs (Brakpan)

At a freezing cold Bosman Stadium in Brakpan on Friday night, the Cheetahs continued their good early season form to beat a game Valke team. Both sides opted to play running rugby, with the Valke in particular running everything from everywhere. The Cheetahs were just too clinical in the end, outscoring the home side by 6 tries to 1.

Falcons (11):
Try: Wannenburg
Penalties: Olivier (2)

Free State Cheetahs (45):
Tries: Brüssow, Burger, Strauss, Fredericks (2), Van der Merwe
Conversions: De Waal (6)
Penalty: De Waal

Sat 30th June: Boland 15 v 10 Western Province (Wellington)

After being destroyed by 90 points by the Cheetahs last week, Boland did well to turn things around and beat Western Province in a wet and rainy Wellington on Saturday. Western Province showed no ability to adapt to the wet conditions, opting to run the ball when a tighter game was called for.

WP coach, the hapless Fester van der Merwe concluded: “Hats off to Boland, they showed guts and committment today. They must have come home [after last week’s defeat] pretty unhappy, and today they simply said, ‘What the hell, let’s go for the win’. We displayed poor execution, and made silly decisions. We have no excuses.”

Boland (15):
Tries: Dazel, Daniels
Conversion: Dollie
Penalty: Dollie

Western Province (10):
Try: Des Fountain
Conversion: Olivier
Penalty: Olivier

Sat 30th June: Griquas 26 v 18 Blue Bulls (Kimberley)

Griquas scored a stunning upset win against the reigning Currie Cup champions in Kimberley on Saturday. They beat the Blue Bulls at their own game – outmuscling them in the first half. The second half saw the home side produce a brilliant defensive display before flank Wayne van Heerden scored off the last movement to secure the win for Griquas.

Griquas (26):
Tries: Carse, Van Heerden
Cons: Barnard (2)
Pens: Barnard (4)

Blue Bulls (18):
Tries: Stegman, Delport
Con: Steyn
Pens: Steyn (2)

Sat 30th June: Lions 14 – 7 Sharks (Johannesburg)

The Lions put on a strong defensive showing at Ellis Park to run out victors against a strong Sharks side by 14 points to 7.

Lions (14):
Try: Grobbelaar
Pens: Vermaak 2
Dropgoal: Van Schalkwyk

Sharks (7):
Try: Bobo
Con: Kockott

After 2 rounds, the Currie Cup table now looks like this:

Cheetahs: 10
Bulls: 5
Lions: 5
WP: 5
Griquas: 4
Boland: 4
Sharks: 1
Valke: 0

Next week’s fixtures:

July 06: Sharks vs Western Province – Absa Stadium, Durban, 7.10pm
July 07: Valke vs Boland Cavaliers – Bosman Stadium, Brakpan, 3pm
July 07: Free State Cheetahs vs  Griquas -  Bloemfontein, 3pm
July 07: Blue Bulls vs Golden Lions – Loftus Versfeld, 5.05pm