Currie Cup Rugby Round Two Review

Currie Cup Rugby Round Two produced the expected results, but with some tighter contests than many expected.

Xerox Golden Lions 44 – Tries: Harold Vorster, penalty try, Courtnall Skosan, penalty try, Stokkies Hanekom; Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (5). Drop Goal: Marnitz Boshoff. Penalties: Boshoff (2)
Steval Pumas 27 – Tries:Marnus Schoeman, Bernado Botha, Stefan Watermeyer. Conversion: JC Roos (3). Penalties: Roos (2)
The Lions had a tough fight on their hands to overcome a never say die Pumas team and it was their superior fitness and stronger bench that proved to be decisive. The score in the 55th minute was 27 all, so the Pumas were right in the game until the final quarter.

Faf de Klerk put in a strong performance against his Super Rugby team mates and the Pumas showed that they are very well drilled side, but ultimately not able to maintain the same tempo as the Lions. The Lions second shove at scrum time was an effective weapon and should cause many teams headaches for the rest of the Currie Cup Season.

Vodacom Blue Bulls 36 – Tries: Dayan van der Westhuizen, Tian Schoeman, Francois Hougaard, Jamba Ulengo; Conversions: Schoeman (2); Penalties: Schoeman (4)
ORC Griquas 12 – Tries: Ruhan Nel, Ntabeni Dukisa; Conversion: Gouws Prinsloo

The Bulls played the first half of this game as if they were still hung over from their try scoring party against the Cheetahs last week. They were dwon 12 to 3 after 30 minutes and only gained parity after 57 minutes. They managed to ignite themselves in the final quarter and produced some sparkling running running to earn a four try bonus point.

They will take heart from the fact that they could kick into a higher gear, but the first half performance would have had Head Coach Nollis Marais pulling his hair out. If they have designs on featuring in the business end of the tournament, they will have to address their scrum frailties.

For the Griquas, this looks like the 2015 season is going to be a tough one. They are further compromised in that they are starting to lose players to other unions that do not have to go through the arduous qualification tournament before the Currie Cup proper.

DHL Western Province – 9 – Penalties: Demitri Catrakilis (3)
Toyota Free State Cheetahs – 3 – Penalty: Fred Zeilinga

It was a very wet, muddy and windy Newlands that welcomed Western Province and the Cheetahs and both teams delivered a grimy performance to match the weather. Western Province’s game was based on a very strong scrum, but their handling was poor. The Cheetahs focussed on driving mauls and a strong defence.

Not a lot can be said of a game that delivered 4 penalties as the only scores. Referee Jaco van Heerden probably delivered the main lowlight of the game with his performance with the whistle. There as a number of decisions that were confusing to the players and there were numerous instances of players being held back in rucks. To add a touch of comedy, after he had referred a foul play decision to the TMO. Cheetahs centre Ryno Benjamin had aimed a churlish kick at Province prop Ollie Kebble’s shin. As Van Heerden could not see the big screen, the TMO advised him to award a penalty and to caution the player. Van Heerden awarded the penalty and then produced a yellow card, to the shock of all involved. It was disappointing that the TMO did not correct Van Heerden after this mistake.

Cell C Sharks 33 – Tries: Andre Esterhuizen, Lionel Cronje, Daniel du Preez, Paul Jordaan; Conversions: Joe Pietersen (2); Penalties: Joe Pietersen (3)
EP Kings 25 – Tries: George Whitehead, Tim Agaba, Steven Sykes, Enrico Acker; Conversion: George Whitehead; Penalty: George Whitehead

The Kings produced a much improved performance against the Sharks in Durban, but still came up short against a team that had too many guns for them. They started the game with a 50kg deficit in the scrums and flyhalf George Whitehead had a poor game kicking out of hand. Off the kicking tee, Scott van Breda also left too many points out on the field.

The Sharks improved markedly when Michael Claasens took over at scrumhalf, adding some maturity and composure to their play. The addition of Paul Jordaan also added a lot more pace and bite to their attacking ambitions. Although still very young, the Du Preez twins look like they have a big future at the Sharks.

Man of the match was Kings 8th man, Tim Agaba, who put in a phenomenal performance both in defence and attack for a man that was playing Varsity Cup at the beginning of the year.

Below is the log after week 2 of Currie Cup Rugby:

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