The Pumas came from behind to beat the Blue Bulls 22-20 in Nelspruit and lead the Vodacom Cup's North Section.
The Blue Bulls outscored their hosts two tries to one, but their discipline let them down. It was a penalty from replacement Justin van Staden deep into injury time that swung the outcome of the match. Jesse Kriel and David Bulbring dotted down for the Pretorians and Renaldo Bothma for the Pumas.
In Limpopo, the Leopards XV pummelled the Limpopo Blue Bulls 71-10, with the home team leaking 11 tries. It was a rather sorry performance from Limpopo who only managed to score one try through scrumhalf Niyaas Johnson with centre Andy Huysamen adding the conversion and landing a penalty.
The Sharks XV beat Western Province 25-7 in Durban in the South Section. But it was expected, as the Sharks entered the game with Super Rugby heavyweights Keegan Daniel and Jacques Botes, who both scored. Wing JP Lewis scored for Western Province in the 36th minute and flyhalf Gary van Aswegen converted. The teams went into the break locked at 7-7, but the Sharks just had too much firepower in the second half.
In Cape Town, Kenya's Tusker Simba XV could not maintain their dream start in the tournament, as they were steamrolled 51-7 by the SWD Eagles. The Eagles scored nine tries and conceded just one. The win moves SWD up to third on the South Section log, behind the Free State XV and the Sharks XV.
North Section
Golden Lions (23) – Tries: Anthony Volmink, Ruaan Lerm, Willie du Plessis. Conversion: Guy Cronjé. Penalties: Willie du Plessis (2).
Valke (22) – Try: Kyle Hendricks. Conversion: Cecil Dumond. Penalties: Dumond (2), Angus Cleophas (3).
Griquas (20) – Tries: Marnus Schoeman, Rocco Jansen. Conversions: Jacquin Jansen (2). Penalties: Jansen (2).
Griffons (12) – Penalties: Louis Strydom (4).
Limpopo Blue Bulls (10) – Try: Niyaas Johnson. Conversion: Andy Huysamen. Penalty: Huysamen.
Leopards XV (71) – Tries: Andri Jacobs, Armandt Liebenberg, George Tossel, Jacques Vermaak, Johan Deysel, John-Roy Jenkinson, Rowayne Beukman, SJ Niemand, Stephan Bezuidenhout, Sthembiso Mhlongo, SW Oosthuizen. Conversions: Gerhard Nortier (8).
Pumas (22) – Try: Renaldo Bothma. Conversion: JC Roos. Penalties: Roos (3), Justin van Staden (2).
Blue Bulls (20) – Tries: Jesse Kriel, David Bulbring. Conversions: Louis Fouché (2). Penalties: Fouché (2).
South Section
Sharks XV (25) – Tries: André Esterhuizen, Jacques Botes, Keegan Daniel. Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (2). Penalties: Zeilinga (2).
Western Province (7) – Try: JP Lewis. Conversion: Gary van Aswegen.
Tusker Simba XV (7) – Try Wilson Kopondo. Conversion: Kenny Andola.
SWD Eagles (51) – Tries: Christo du Plessis, Daniel Roberts (2), Duwayne Smart (2), Hentzwill Pedro, Johannes Stander, Martin du Toit, Shaun Raubenheimer. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (3).
Boland Kavaliers (20) – Tries: Ashton Constant, Cheslyn Roberts. Conversions: Eric Zana (2). Penalties: Zana (2)
Free State XV (28) – Tries: Logan Basson, Nhlanhla Mlondobozi, Wayven Smith, Zingisa April. Conversion: Niel Marais. Penalties: Marais (2).
EP Kings (60) – Tries: Brian Skosana (2), Dwayne Kelly, Eben Philip Barnard, Ivan-John du Preez, Masixole Banda (2), Selvyn Davids, Sonwabo Majola. Conversions: Ntabeni Dukisa (6). Penalty: Ntabeni Dukisa.
Border (6) – Penalties: Jeff Taljard (2).
Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images
