The Boland Cavaliers scored two late tries to beat the Valke 24-22 in round seven of the Currie Cup qualifiers, while there were also wins for the Free State XV, Leopards, Western Province and Golden Lions XV on Friday.
Fullback Nico Scheepers opened the scoring for Boland with a penalty goal in the fifth minute. Valke flyhalf Karlo Aspeling then converted lock Shane Kirkwood’s try to put the hosts in the lead, before slotting a penalty.
Boland hit back with a converted try through centre and captain Ryan Nell to level the scores on the stroke of half-time.
The Valke drew first blood after the break with scrumhalf Anrich Richter scoring their second converted try. Replacement fullback Etienne Taljaard then crossed for an unconverted try to put the hosts in front by 12 points with 12 minutes remaining.
Boland hit back three minutes later as flyhalf Adriaan Carelse went over for a converted try to reduce the deficit to just five points, before No 8 Zandré Jordaan scored a converted try in the last minute of the match to hand the visitors their fifth victory of the qualifiers.
Elsewhere on Friday, hooker Joseph Dweba scored two tries as the Free State XV beat the EP Kings 35-15 in Port Elizabeth. Fullback and captain Rhyno Smith scored 17 points and wing Rowayne Beukman a brace of tries as the Leopards beat Namibia's Welwitchias 42-17 in Potchefstroom.
Wing JP Lewis scored a late try to help Western Province to a 27-20 win against the Pumas in Nelspruit, and the Golden Lions XV scored 40 unanswered second-half points to beat the Sharks XV 53-16 in Kwa-Mashu.
Valke (22) – Tries: Shane Kirkwood, Anrich Richter, Etienne Taljaard. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2). Penalty: Aspeling.
Boland Cavaliers (24) – Tries: Ryan Nell, Adriaan Carelse, Zandré Jordaan. Conversions: Nico Scheepers (2), Theuns Kotze. Penalty: Scheepers.
EP Kings (15) – Tries: Athi Mayinje, Somila Jho. Conversion: Michael Brink. Penalty: Brink.
Free State XV (35) – Tries: Joseph Dweba (2), Ruan van Rensburg, Elandré Hugget, BG Uys. Conversions: Sias Ebersohn (5).
Leopards (42) – Tries: Rowayne Beukman (2), Bruce Muller, Rhyno Smith, Bradley Moolman, Henko Marais. Conversions: Rhyno Smith (6).
Welwitchias (17) – Tries: Munio Kasiringua, Franco Wiese. Conversions: Shaun Kaizemi (2). Penalty: Kaizemi.
Pumas (20) – Tries: Marcello Sampson, Carel Greeff. Conversions: Justin van Staden (2). Penalties: Van Staden (2).
Western Province (27) – Tries: JP Lewis (2). Conversions: Scott van Breda. Penalties: Van Breda (5).
Sharks XV (16) – TBC.
Golden Lions XV (53) – TBC.
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
