Sharks continue their resurgence

The Vodacom Bulls retained their spot at the top of the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division log when they won their sixth game in seven rounds, while the Fidelity ADT Lions strengthened their second position on the log as the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV’s resurgence continued as they moved into fourth.

The Bulls kicked off the seventh round – the first of the cross-section fixtures – by beating the Airlink Pumas 40-24 in Nelspruit on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, the Lions turned on the style in defeating defeat DHL Western Province 41-22 in their early afternoon meeting in Johannesburg and thereafter the Sharks triumphed by 25-20 over the defending champions, the Toyota Cheetahs, in Bloemfontein.

Suzuki Griquas had too much firepower for the NovaVit Griffons in their 59-7 triumph in Welkom on Sunday as they moved to within one point of the Capetonians on the log.

The Bulls produced a dominant start and scored four tries in the opening 30 minutes against the Pumas in Nelspruit, where the visitors built a solid 26-5 half-time lead.

However, the hosts showed remarkable resilience in the second stanza to fight back to within two points of the log leaders.

The team from Mpumalanga scored three tries in this period to bring them back within two points of the visitors at 26-24. But the Bulls showed their pedigree and they responded decisively with two crucial tries, ensuring a 40-24 win and maintaining their unbeaten run in the competition.

Playing in the early Saturday fixture in Johannesburg, the Lions delivered another commanding performance to secure a solid victory over Western Province. The hosts earned their try-scoring bonus-point in the first half already and lead 28-8 at the break, with the impressive Renzo du Plessis leading the charge with a hat-trick of tries.

The Gautengers started the second half where they left at break by scoring again shortly after the resumption. Although WP showed some flashes of promise and Junior Springbok JC Mars, playing on the wing, completed his brace after the break, the hosts’ overall quality and solid scrum secured them another good victory as they consolidated their position in the top two.

The Sharks pulled off a superb, if somewhat unexpected victory over holders Cheetahs to move into semi-final contention. Experienced speedster Yaw Penxe was instrumental in the victory as he scored two tries to hand his side a 18-10 half-time lead.

The Cheetahs came back hard, with tries through Corne Fourie, Vernon Paulo and Ethan Wentzel but Eduan Keyter’s five-pointer four minutes from full-time secured the visitors a crucial win in Bloemfontein.

In the final match of the round played Sunday in Welkom, the Griquas claimed their third win of the campaign by beating the Griquas 57-7 in bright Northern Free State sunshine.

The visitors dominated the set-pieces and looked dangerous whenever they sent the ball wide, while keeping the potent home attack in check with good defence throughout.

The Northern Cape side led 24-7 at the halfway mark and kicked on the second half to eventually score nine tries and seven conversions, while the hosts could only reply with a single converted try. Sako Makata, Marco de Witt, and the speedy Connor Mahoney each scored a brace of tries for the Griquas.

Following the latest round’s fixtures, the Bulls increased their points tally to 31 from six wins and a draw, three more than the second-placed Lions. The Cheetahs are now third on 24 points, only three more than the fourth-placed Sharks, who leapfrogged the Pumas (fifth on 19 points).

WP are sixth on 14 points, followed by Griquas (13) and Griffons (2).

This Friday, the Bulls host Griquas in Pretoria (7.05pm); and on Saturday, WP welcome the Sharks to the DHL Stadium (3pm) before the Cheetahs host the Lions in Bloemfontein (5pm). On Sunday, the Griffons take on the Pumas in Welkom (3pm).

Scores

Airlink Pumas 24 (5), Vodacom Bulls 40 (26)

Airlink Pumas – Tries: Eddie Swart, Darren Adonis, Tino Swanepoel, Clinton Swart. Conversions: Clinton Swart (2).

Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Joe van Zyl (2), Cornel Smit, Sibongile Novuka, Devon Williams, Chris Smit. Conversions: Keagan Johannes (4), Jaco van der Walt.

Fidelity ADT Lions 41 (28), DHL Western Province 22 (8)

Fidelity ADT Lions – Tries: Renzo du Plessis (3), Bronson Mills, Quan Horn. Conversions: Nico Steyn (2). Penalties: Steyn (4).

DHL Western Province – Tries: JC Mars (2), Paul de Villiers. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2). Penalty: Matthee.

Toyota Cheetahs 20 (10), Hollywoodbets Sharks XV 25 (18)

Toyota Cheetahs – Tries: Ethan Wentzel, Corne Fourie, Vernon Paulo. Conversion: Wentzel. Penalty: Wentzel.

Hollywoodbets Sharks XV – Tries: Yaw Penxe (2), Eduan Keyter. Conversions: Lionel Cronje (2). Penalties: Cronje (2).

Novavit Griffons 7 (7), Suzuki Griquas 59 (25)

Novavit Griffons – Try: Mango Ngundue. Conversion: Andrew Kota.

Suzuki Griquas - Tries: Sako Makata (2), Marco de Witt (2), Connor Mahoney (2), Dylan Maart, Dandre Delport, Tertius Kruger. Conversions: Zinedine Robinson (5), Tylor Sefoor (2).