Defending champions NWU-Pukke and Western Province’s Hamiltons laid down an early marker on the opening day of the 35th SAA National Club Champs at the LC de Villiers stadium on the University of Pretoria sport campus on Sunday.
SHIMLAS BEATEN BY EP SIDE
Sport24
Pukke beat Limpopo side Noordelikes 87-12 while Hammies almost matched them point for point with an 83-19 win over Griquas champions Kuruman.
Pirates, of the Golden Lions – the last open club to win the tournament in 2001 – also got off to an excellent start with a 66-3 victory over Mpumalanga champions Middelburg.
The two sides from the Eastern Cape sides provided the big upsets of the day. Eastern Province’s Park shocked Free State’s Shimlas 27-26 – which leaves Pukke as the only student team left in the race for the title – while Border’s Buffalo beat Pretoria Police 45-19 in the main match of the afternoon.
There were also first-round wins for Springs, College Rovers and Rawsonville. The results make for an intriguing quarterfinal line-up on Tuesday, with Hamiltons v Pirates the pick of the matches.
Day 1 results:
Springs 37 Welkom Rovers 14
Valke champions Springs kicked off the 2009 SAA National Club Champs with a 37-14 (halftime 22-0) victory over Griffons champions Welkom Rovers in the first match of the day at the LC de Villiers stadium.
The Gauteng side raced into a 25-0 lead thanks to tries from loosehead prop Pierre Foord, left wing Leon Lubbe and flanker Marco Victor. Flyhalf Ashley Buchler weighed in with a drop goal and two conversions.
Rovers then staged a second-half fightback thanks to their quicksilver fullback Tertius Maarman, who scored two breakaway tries, one of which he converted himself. Flyhalf Pieter Strydom kicked the other.
But Springs closed out the game with two late tries to Lubbe and replacement Morné Ungerer to see off the men from Welkom and book a place in the last eight.
Scorers:
Springs 37 – Tries: Pierre Foord, Leon Lubbe (2), Marco Victor, Morné Ungerer. Conversions: Ashley Buchler (3). Penalty: Buchler. Drop goal: Buchler.
Welkom Rovers 14 – Tries: Tertius Maarman (2). Conversions: Pieter Strydom, Maarman.
Hamiltons 83 Kuruman 19
Wing Terry Jacobs scored four tries as WP champions Hamiltons cruised to a 83-19 (halftime 38-14) victory over Griqualand West’s Kuruman.
Hammies scored 12 tries to send out an ominous warning to the rest of the field – although they also let a number of try-scoring chances go a-begging with the kind of poor option taking that will be punished by better teams.
Kuruman were outweighed up front and outpaced behind the scrum, but they never gave up and were rewarded with three good tries against the country’s oldest club – something that not too many teams can boast about this year.
Scrumhalf Dustin Jinka scored 21 points from nine conversions and a penalty while left wing Stefan du Toit was rewarded for an industrious game with a brace of tries.
Kuruman got onto the scoresheet thanks to a fine try in the right-hand corner by inside centre Johan Enslin. His centre partner Nico van der Westhuizen converted from the corner flag before scoring his team’s second try a few minutes later as the men from the Northern Cape showed their fighting spirit against their more celebrated opponents.
Scorers:
Hamiltons 83 – Tries: Dustin Jinka, Ashley Down, Francois Prinsloo, Terry Jacobs (4), Stefan du Toit (2), Elric van Vuuren, Noel de Villiers, Alshaun Bock. Conversions: Jinka (9), Bock. Penalty: Jinka.
Kuruman 19 – Tries: Johan Enslin, Nico van der Westhuizen, Freddie Markram. Conversions: Van der Westhuizen (2).
College Rovers 33 Impala 25
Last year’s beaten finalists College Rovers of KZN got their campaign underway with a 33-25 (halftime 15-3) win over Leopards invitees Impala of Rustenburg.
Rovers raced to a 23-8 lead but Impala, led by evergreen Jaco Gouws, proved a handful at scrum time and the men from Rustenburg staged a mini-fightback when they scored two tries early in the second half to cut the deficit to 10 points.
But Sharks flyer Chris Jordaan then kicked a massive drop goal to go with his earlier try to make it 26-13.
Impala scored their third try midway through the half to give their supporters some hope, but Rovers scored a soft intercept try through right wing Wesley Bodmer to kill off the match.
Scorers:
College Rovers 33 – Tries: Chris Jordaan, Anton Verster (2), Wesley Bodmer. Conversion: Dauw Steyn, Stuart Hudson. Penalties: Steyn (2). Drop goal: Jordaan.
Impala 25 – Tries: Robbie Visser, Herchell Roman, Morné Basson, Louis Hollenby. Penalty: Morné Jonker. Conversion: Jonker.
Pukke 87 Noordelikes 12
Defending champions Pukke won through to the last eight with an 87-12 (halftime 31-7) win over Limpopo invitees Noordelikes.
Pukke raced into a 12-0 lead but any thoughts of a huge victory were put on hold until the second half as the Limpopo side hit back through an intercept try by centre Fritz Nel, which gave Noordelikes renewed confidence.
But the champions hit their straps after the break and by the end were scoring tries almost at will against brave but outgunned opponents.
Scorers:
Pukke 87 – Tries: Jacques de Kock, Marcel du Toit (2), Dirco Rautenbach (3), Janus Terblanche, Alfred Wauldts, Wouter Watermeyer, John Roodt (2), Willem Barnard, Jaco Lotter. Conversions: Theuns Kotzé (11).
Noordelikes 12 – Tries: Fritz Nel, Theyman Jongbloed. Conversion: Joe de Beer.
Buffalo 45 Pretoria Police 19
Border champions Buffalo won through to the last eight with a 45-19 (halftime 9-9) win over Blue Bulls team Pretoria Police in the main match of the afternoon.
In a scrappy and at times ill-tempered affair, both sides matched each other point for point until midway through the second half, when Buffalo scored a couple of breakaway tries to relegate the home team to the Plate event.
Scorers:
Buffalo 45 – Tries: Kevin Kliknkradt, Mathew Taljaardt, Yongama Makaza, Reinhard Gerber, Brad Tessendorf. Conversions: Jeffry Taljaardt (3), Reinhard Gerber. Penalties: Taljaardt (4).
Pretoria Police 19 – Tries: Morné Human, Christofer Snyman. Penalties: Mike Erasmus (2). Drop goal: Erasmus.
Other results:
Park (21) 27 Shimlas (19) 26
Pirates (40) 66 Middelburg (3) 3
Rawsonville (7) 25 Great Brakiver (16) 21
Fixtures for Tuesday, September 22:
Premier quarter-finals:
Pukke v Rawsonville
College Rovers v Park
Hamiltons v Pirates
Springs v Buffalo
Plate quarter-finals:
Noordelikes v Great Brakriver
Impala v Shimlas
Kuruman v Middelburg
Welkom Rovers v Pretoria Police
