The 2024 Carling Currie Cup Bulletin #18

The Fidelity ADT Lions ended the Vodacom Bulls’ unbeaten run in the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division to move top of the log, but defeats for the Toyota Cheetahs and Airlink Pumas mean the 2023 and 2022 champions will be involved in a “quarter-final” this weekend to see who will join the Gauteng teams and the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV in the playoffs.

The two teams from Gauteng will host semi-finals with the Fidelity ADT Lions in pole position to finish the league phase at the top of the log after their victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Centurion on Friday.

Suzuki Griquas and DHL Western Province were victorious over the Toyota Cheetahs and Airlink Pumas in Kimberley and Stellenbosch respectively, and the KwaZulu-Natalians secured third spot on the log with a massive win over the NovaVit Griffons in Durban, in yet another thrilling round of action in the Carling Currie Cup.

In a closely contested affair in Kimberley, Suzuki Griquas edged the Toyota Cheetahs with a 44-31 win in the early Friday afternoon fixture, inflicting some damage to the defending champions’ semi-final aspirations.

The Fidelity ADT Lions were the biggest winners of the past weekend when they defeated the Vodacom Bulls by 57-33 at Midstream College on Friday, to snap the Pretoria’s side unbeaten streak and leapfrog them on the table into top spot.

Playing on Saturday afternoon in Durban, the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV packed too much firepower for the NovaVit Griffons, romping home to a 75-19 win to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Meanwhile on Sunday, DHL Western Province delivered one of their better performances to down the Airlink Pumas 39-30 in the weekend’s last match staged at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.

Suzuki Griquas got the weekend’s action off to an exciting start when they delivered their best performance of the campaign so far, outplaying Toyota Cheetahs 44-31 in Kimberley, where Lubabalo Dobela (flyhalf) controlled play well for the hosts as he contributed a try, conversion, and a penalty goal.

Pieter Bergh’s side made the most of their chances, scoring at regular intervals as they capitalised on the Free Staters’ mistakes. After leading 17-10 at the break, the Northern Cape hosts went on to score seven tries to four to clinch a deserved win.

A few hours later in Centurion, the Fidelity ADT Lions outplayed the Vodacom Bulls with an impressive 57-33 victory. The Joburg outfit, reinforced by several of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship squad members, delivered a formidable attacking performance, particularly from their dangerous backline who were impressive throughout.

Nico Steyn was influential at flhyhalf, and he succeeded with five conversions and a drop goal for a personal tally of 13 points, while PJ Botha (hooker) scored a brace for the visitors. Despite the hosts’ valiant attempts to rally before an enthusiastic home crowd, they were unable to match their Gauteng neighbours on the day, resulting in their first defeat of the campaign.

Playing in Saturday’s only fixture, staged in bright sunshine in Durban, the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV flexed their considerable muscle to overpower NovaVit Griffons by the second biggest score of the year so far, 75-19. Also strengthened by several Vodacom URC stars, including the prolific Springbok Makazole Mapimpi, the Durban outfit simply had too much ammunition for their Welkom opponents.

Mampimpi was in rampant form as he scored three of his four tries before the halftime break, while his wing partner Eduan Keyter also dotted down three times. The Durbanites ended up scoring 11 times, with all but one try through their dangerous backline.

Former Springbok wing Courtnall Skosan bagged a hat-trick to help steer DHL WP to a morale boosting 39-30 triumph over the Airlink Pumas in Stellenbosch on Sunday. The Cape outfit trailed 15-17 at the break but managed to turn things around in the second period as they eventually prevailed by six tries to three for only their third win of the campaign.

With only the final round of league fixtures to come, Fidelity ADT Lions are now leading the standings on 38 points, one more than then Vodacom Bulls, who are on 37. The Hollywoodbets Sharks XV follow next on 31 points. These three teams are assured of their spots in the sem-finals.

However, six and seven points adrift respectively, the Toyota Cheetahs (25) and Airlink Pumas (24) will play out for the final spot in the top four when they clash on Saturday.

Suzuki Griquas and DHL WP (both on 19) and the NovaVit Griffons (three) bring up the rear.

This weekend, Suzuki Griquas are playing DHL Western Province in Kimberley in the early Friday afternoon encounter (15h00). Immediately after that, the Fidelity ADT Lions host the NovaVit Griffons in Johannesburg (17h15).

On Saturday, the Airlink Pumas and Toyota Cheetahs meet in a crucial make-or-break game from 13h30 in Nelspruit, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks are up against the Vodacom Bulls in Durban on Sunday (15h00) to complete the league phase.

Scorers:

Suzuki Griquas 44 (17), Toyota Cheetahs 31 (10)

Suzuki Griquas – Tries: Zane Bester, Dandre Delport, Lubabalo Dobela, Marco de Witt, Gustav du Rand, Connor Mahoney, Bobby Alexander. Conversions: Dobela, Thomas Bursey, Zinedine Robinson. Penalty goal: Dobela.

Toyota Cheetahs – Tries: Daniel Kasende, Ethan Wentzel, Ali Mgijima, Munier Hartzenberg. Conversions: Wentzel (4). Penalty goal: Wentzel.

Vodacom Bulls 33 (14), Fidelity ADT Lions 57 (33)

Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Corne Beets, Joe van Zyl, Katlego Letebele, Juann Else, Penalty Try. Conversions: Keagan Johannes (2), Jaco van der Walt.

Fidelity ADT Lions – Tries: PJ Botha (2), Erich Cronje, Ruan Venter, Morne van den Berg, Morgan Naude, Renzo du Plessis, Rabz Maxwane. Conversions: Nico Steyn (5), Sanele Nohamba (2). Drop goal: Nico Steyn.

Hollywoodbets Sharks XV 75 (40), NovaVit Griffons 19 (12)

Hollywoodbets Sharks XV – Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (4), Eduan Keyter (3), Lionel Cronje, Jordan Hendrikse, Francois Venter, Emmanuel Tshituka. Conversions: Lionel Cronje (6), Siya Masuku (4).

Novavit Griffons – Tries: Willem van den Heever (2), Gurshwin Wehr. Conversions: Andrew Kota, Dewald Human.

DHL Western Province 39 (15), Airlink Pumas 30 (17)

DHL Western Province – Tries: Courtnall Skosan (3), Wandisile Simelane, Damian Markus, Joseph Dweba. Conversions: Manie Libbok (2), Jurie Matthee. Penalty goal: Matthee.

Airlink Pumas – Tries: Etienne Janeke, Deon Slabbert, Ross Braude. Conversions: Clinton Swart (3). Penalty goals: Swart (3).