Bonus point win for Kings

The Eastern Province Kings traveled to East London on Friday to face the Border Bulldogs in their second Vodacom Cup match at the BCM Stadium.

The Kings can feel satisfied with the outcome as they scored two tries in each half to secure a 27 - 17 bonus point win.

Kings flyhalf, Gary van Aswegen opened the scoring for the visitors as he kicked a penaltly in the opening minutes to take a 3 - 0 lead after just three minutes.

Kings flank, Paul Schoeman scored their first try ten minutes later, after Border were reduced to fourteen men when Wandile Putuma received a yellow card. Van Aswegen was unsuccessful with the conversion as they took an 8 - 0 lead after fifteen minutes.

Ten minutes later the Kings were in for their second try, this time through prop Simon Kerrod. Kings extended their lead to 15 - 0 after a successful conversion from van Aswegen.

Border's flyhalf, Masixole Banda kicked a penalty just before half time to take the score to 15 - 3 at the break.

The Kings scored a further two tries in the second half, including a hat-trick from Schoeman and their bonus point fourth try in the sixty sixth minute.

Schoeman scored his second and the Kings' third try ten minutes into the second half. Van Aswegen failed to add the extras as they took a seventeen point lead, 20 - 3.

Border's Ntando Kebe scored his team's first try at the end of the third quarter, Banda converted as they trailed 10 - 20 with twenty minutes to play.

Schoeman scored his third and Kings' fourth try in the sixty sixth minute, Scott van Breda added the extras as the Kings took a seventeen point lead with fifteen minutes to play.

Border's Sipho Nofemele scored a consolation try for his team as the game reached the final stages. Olivier Zono converted the try to take the score to 27 - 17 in the seventy sixth minute.

Zono had an opportunity to give his team a losing bonus point, but failed to kick the three points on offer as the game ended 27 - 17 in favour of the Kings.

Scorers:

EP Kings (15) 27 - Tries: Simon Kerrod, Paul Scoeman (3). Conversions: Gary van Awegen (1), Scott van Breda (1). Penalty: van Aswgen

Border (3) 17 - Tries: Ntando Kebe, Sipho Nofemele. Conversions: Masixole Banda, Olivier Zono. Penalty: Banda

Shane Gates warns not to underestimate Border

Eastern Province captain, Shane Gates warned that his team must not underestimate the Border Bulldogs in their second Vodacom Cup match when they travel to East London for Friday night's match.

"We know that we must never underestimate Border, and we need to be much more clinical because they will feed off our mistakes,” Gates said.

“We know to improve we have to focus on what we do well and we have received positive feedback from the coaches this week.”

The Bulldogs suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Sharks XV last week and head coach, Mzwandile Stick acknowledged the threat Border posed and said the home side would have a point to prove against the Kings.

“We know what to expect from Border and they will come hard at us because they will want to prove a point in this derby,” Stick said.

“We were disappointed with our loss against Griquas, but we know we are better than that.

“We have put that match behind us and now we want to pick up the intensity and get our game back to a level where we know we belong.

“We know we need to finish things better and we are working on that because we firmly believe we have the capability to do better.”

Kick-off is at 7:10pm.

Disappointing end to Madibaz Varsity Cup campaign

The FNB NMMU-Madibaz exited the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International after going down 40-8 against log leaders FNB Tuks in the final round-robin fixture at the NMMU Madibaz Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Monday night.

 

Madibaz head coach David Maidza said the focus of the season was for the young squad tolearn and grow.

 

“I went into the Varsity Cup with the belief that it would take a few games for us to really come together as a team.

 

“As the tournament wore on, I realised that we lacked a couple of things that we needed to work and improve on.”

 

He said that, as a young squad, they had understandably been slightly behind some of the other more established teams in technical and tactical terms.

 

“We learned a lot of good lessons from this tournament that we can implement going forward,”said Maidza.

 

With a number of the Madibaz’s senior players graduating, Maidza said he and the othercoaches were forced to take a long-term look at the team’s growth.

 

“I think we’ve done the right thing in investing in the youngsters.”

 

He said they were still dreaming of lifting the cup one day and will once again be pushing hard from next season.

 

“I think the structures that we’ve put in place bode well for NMMU’s future as long as the students keep on putting in the hard yards.

 

“I’m excited about the future and hopefully we can retain the nucleus of this team for next year’s campaign.”

 

The Madibaz are set to participate in the Eastern Province Grand Challenge club competition, which starts in April.

 

“It is an opportunity for us to start building again and we are just hoping that we can put our structures in place to really use the campaign to our advantage ahead of next year’s Varsity Cup.”

Despatch's unbeaten record comes to an end

SA Home Loans Durban Collegians ended GAP Management Despatch's unbeaten record on Saturday when the beat the log leaders 41 - 30 at the WJ de Wet Stadium in Despatch.

The visitors from Durban took a one point lead into the half time break, having scored three first half tries. Fredie Horn scored the first and right wing Kyle Hartley scored the other two, Duncan Campbell converted two and Brendan Cope the other one.

Despatch also scored three first half tries and one penalty. Billy Mintoor scored two tries and Dyllan Lamprecht the third, Ryan Brown was only successful with one of the conversions. 

Despatch fullback Justin Peach added a penalty kick just before halftime as Despatch trailed 20 - 21 at the break.

Cope scored fifteen points for Collegians in the second half, which included a try, two penalties and two conversions. Brendon Groenewald scored the other second half try for Collegians.

Despatch could only manage to score a late try and a penalty through replacement Francois Nel as the scores ended 41 - 30 in favour of the visitors.

Despite the loss, Despatch still stays top of the log on sixteen points as Durban Collegians ends in second place on fifteen along with Wesbank, but because they have equal amount of log points it is actually the team from Boland that qualifies for the play-offs. Unfortunately the rules states that, should two teams be tied on log points, it is the winner of the match between those two sides who will advance.

Despatch will play Vaseline Wanderers in the quarter final on the 2nd of April. Kick-off is at 2pm and the match will be televised live on Super Sport.

Scorers:

GAP Management Despatch (20) 30 - Tries: Billy Montoor (2), Dyllan Lamprecht, Francois Nel. Conversions: Ryan Brown (1), Francois Nel (1). Penalties: Justin Peach (1), Francois Nel (1).

SA Home Loans Durban Collegians (21) 41 - Tries: Kyle Hartley (2), Ferdie Horn, Brendon Groenewald, Brendan Cope. Conversions: Duncan Campbell (2), Brendan Cope (3). Penalties: Brendan Cope (2).

Kings to face Bulldogs

The Eastern Province Kings have made a few changes to their side that went down 19 - 27 to the Griquas at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on the weekend.

The Kings have made five changes to their starting lineup and a further four to their bench for their away fixture against neighbouring Border Bulldogs at the BCM Stadium in East London on Friday.

The only change to the backline sees Scott van Breda replacing Sylvian Mahuza at fullback.

The tight five looks slightly different to the one that played Griquas, Cameron Lindsay replaces David Bulbring, Simon Kerrod comes in for Tom Botha and Charles Marais comes off the bench to swop places with Lizo Gqoboka. The only other change to the pack sees Paul Schoeman replacing Eital Bredenkamp on the flank.

Cornell Hess will look to made his debut for the Kings off the bench if he gets an opportunity to play on Friday. He played for the Bulls during 2010 and 2013, where he made thirty nine appearances for their Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup squads, and will provide cover at lock.

Ronnie Cooke also returns to the squad alongside Edgar Marutlulle and Stefan Willemse.

Kick-off is at 7.10pm.

EP Kings: 

15 Scott van Breda 14 Siviwe Soyizwapi 13 Hansie Graaff 12 Shane Gates (C) 11 Siyanda Grey 10 Grary van Aswegen 9 Kevin Luiters 8 Tim Agaba 7 Thembelani Bholi 6 Paul Schoeman 5 Cameron Lindsay 4 Tazz Fuzani 3 Simom Kerrod 2 Martin Ferreira 1 Charles Marais

Replacements: 

16 Edgar Marutlulle 17 Lizo Gqoboka 18 Cornell Hess 19 Stefan Willemse 20 Jaco Grobler 21 George Whitehead 21 Ronnie Cooke

Kings lose to Griquas in opener

The Eastern Province Kings hosted the GWK Griquas in their opening round match of this year's Vodacom Cup competition at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

The home team had a good first half, where they enjoyed most of the possession and territory which allowed them to score two tries in quick succession. Strong runs through flank, Thembelani Bholi and outside center, Hansie Graaff, gave them much needed momentum along with well excecuted kicking by flyhalf, Gary van Aswegen, which gave them some good territorial advantage.

The Griquas were however the one's that scored the first points as eighthman, Carel Greeff, crossed the line for his team's first points. Fullback, Gouws Prinsloo, added the extras as Griquas took a 7 - 0 lead after fourteen minutes.

The Kings started playing some exciting rugby towards the end of the first half, with the forwads driving it up as they played most of their rugby in Griquas' half, scoring two tries in the process.  

Battering ram, Bholi scored the first try after yet another powerful run through the Griquas mid-field, van Aswegen converted to level the scores at 7 all after eighteen minutes.

A powerful scrum by the Kings deep inside Griquas' twenty two, turned into a five pointer as scrumhalf, Kevin Luiters, dove onto a loose ball inside the in-goal area. Van Aswegen were unsuccessful to add the touchline conversion as the Kings took a 12 - 7 lead with fifteen minutes to the half time break.

The Kings had an opportunity to extend their lead five minutes later, but van Aswegen failed with a penlty kick.

Prinsloo added three points on half time to bring the score within two points after he kicked a successful penalty, as they trailed 10 - 12 at the break.

Kings head coach, Mzwandile Stick made some early tactical substitutions as he replaced Martin Ferreira, Kevin Luiters, Tom Botha and Hansie Graaff all within the first twenty minutes.

Prinsloo kicked his team into the lead when he added three points through a penalty kick in the fifty third minute.

Ten minutes later Steph Roberts scored his team's second try as Griquas extended their lead to 20 - 12 after a successful conversion by Prinsloo.

Stick felt it was necessary to make another replacement as George Whitehead came on for van Aswegen.

Griquas took a comfortable lead when replacement scrumhalf, Abraham Griesel, scored their third try with fifteen minutes to play. Prinsloo added his third successful conversion as they took a 27 - 12 lead.

The Kings scored a conselation try through replacement scrumhalf, Jaco Grobler, as Griquas were reduced to thirteen men after continuous infringements inside the "red zone". Replacement, Scott van Breda added the extra's as they trailed 19 - 27 with less then ten minutes to play.

The Kings failed to add any further points to the scoreboard as Griquas claimed a 27 - 19 win.

Scorers:

EP Kings (12) 19 - Tries: Thembelani Bholi, Kevin Luiters, Jaco Grobler. Conversions: Gary van Aswegen (1), Scott van Breda (1).

GWK Griquas (10) 27 - Tries: Carel Greeff, Steph Roberts, Abraham Griesel. Conversions: Gouws Prinsloo (3). Penalties: Prinsloo (2)

Madibaz looking for strong finish

The FNB NMMU-Madibaz will be looking for a strong finish against log leaders Tuks in their seventh and final match of the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International in Port Elizabeth tonight.

 

Although the Madibaz will not progress beyond the round-robin stages of this year’s tournament, they have promised to come out fighting from the first whistle.

 

Madibaz head coach David Maidza said that the team wanted to go out with a bang and were aiming to give it their all in the last game.

 

“Coming from the boys themselves, and what Jarryd (Buys) has been saying to them this week, is that even though this is our last game we cannot throw in the towel.

 

“And that is what I have asked of them too – for us to get everything clicking on Monday,” he said.

 

Maidza said the team still believed that they could have been in a better position at this point of the tournament, but he wanted to see things come together for them in the final throw down.

 

“They deserve to have a bit of a reward after all the persistence and hard work they have put inthis season.”

 

He said the team had been unlucky in a few games along the way and that there were alsotimes when they did not play well or the other team was simply smarter on the day.

 

“But I am happy to say that we never lost by giving in. The boys have really tried this seasonand I am so proud of them for their continued effort.”

 

A few injuries have forced Maidza to make some changes to the starting line-up for Monday’s match.

 

A knee injury will see captain Buys sitting out the final showdown, with Tythan Adams replacing him at fullback.

 

Khaya Malotana will step off the bench to take over from Adams at right wing, with Andile Jhoslotting into the utility back position in place of Malotana.

 

Brian Skosana holds onto number 11 with Yamkela Ngam still carrying an injury that will force him to miss the final fixture.

 

Flyhalf Ruan Allerston makes an appearance after a long break, replacing utility back Steven Hansel who moves to the replacements.

 

Vice-captain and left flank CJ Velleman will be replaced by Jody Reyneke, a move which sees Dane van der Westhuizen coming off the bench to slot in as hooker.

 

Van der Westhuizen’s move sidelines Warrick Venter, with Zane Marx joining him on the bench.

 

FNB NMMU Young Guns’ lock Elandre van der Merwe returns to the main Madibaz squad to replace Stephen Zaayman at number four.

 

The match kicks off at 4.45pm at the NMMU Stadium.

 

FNB Madibaz: 

15 Tythan Adams, 14 Khaya Malotana, 13 Michael Bernardt, 12 Devon Lailvaux, 11 Brian Skosana, 10 Ruan Allerston, 9 Daniel Acker, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Rudolph Odendaal, 6 Jody Reyneke, 5 Rob Louw, 4 Elandre van der Merwe, 3 Steven Robesson, 2Dane van der Westhuizen, 1 Marzuq Maarman 

Replacements: 

16 Warrick Venter, 17Laurence Christie, 18 Zane Marx, 19 Ivan-John du Preez, 20 Ivan Ludick, 21 Steven Hansel, 22 Andile Jho, 23 Arno Ebersohn

Madibaz lacking that final touch

FNB NMMU Madiaz head coach, David Maidza said he was pleased that his young team continued to show a marked improvement as the tournament wore on, despite the fact that they would not progress beyond the round-robin stages this year.

"We need to work on a few technical aspects; we're just lacking that final touch and the composure at times. But these are things that can be rectified once we have been playing together for a longer period of time," he said.

After taking an 8-5 lead into halftime, the Port Elizabeth side ultimately went down 26-16 to the home team at the Danie Craven Stadium.

Although Madibaz fans had seen their team march through to the semi-finals in the preceding two seasons, it was back to basics this year for the fresh crop of inexperienced new players.

According to Maidza, the highly competitive Varsity Cup had been a tough introduction to tertiary-level rugby for the young squad.

"We knew that we would have to really push against the bigger packs and I really believe that we managed to perform admirably well considering what we were up against," he said.

"I hope that these players will be part of the team for years to come so that we can build a strong squad in the future."

Maidza said his players had shown what they were made of despite a lacklustre first half in the Stellenbosch game.

"In the second half we came out and performed much better but Maties were able to capitalise on one or two of our errors and that gave them the edge they needed."

Although the Madibaz were out of the running for the 2015 title, Maidza said they still planned to put in a strong performance on their home turf and finish the tournament on a positive note.

"It's going to be a really tough task against Tuks but we need to make sure that we do our job and give it our all to show our supporters a good last home game next week," he said.

The Madibaz are set to take on the log leaders in the final round-robin fixture, which kicks off at 4.45pm at the NMMU Stadium in Port Elizabeth on March 23.

Kings to face Griquas in Vodacom Cup opener

The Eastern Province Kings have announced their side to face Griquas in their opener of this year's Vodacom Cup at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon.

Shane Gates will captain a fairly unchanged side to the one that beat the Lions 13 - 8 in a pre-season friendly a week ago.

Changes to the starting lineup sees Siyanda Grey replacing Luther Obi on the left wing and Gary van Aswegen replacing Tony Jantjies at flyhalf.

The bench sees the inclusion of Aidon Davids, George Whitehead and Scott van Breda.

Kick-off is at 3pm. (Game not televised)

EP Kings: 

15 Sylvian Mahuza 14 Siviwe Soyizwapi 13 Hansie Graaff 12 Shane Gates (c) 11 Siyanda Grey 10 Gary van Aswegen 9 Kevin Luiters 8 Tim Agaba 7 Thembelani Bholi 6 Eital Bredenkamp 5 David Bulbring 4 Tazz Fuzani 3 Tom Botha 2 Martin Ferreira 1 Lizo Gqoboka 

Replacements: 

16 Mike van Vuuren 17 Charles Marais 18 Cameron Lindsay 19 Aidon Davids 20 Jaco Grobler 21 George Whitehead 22 Scott van Breda.

Five tries not enough to beat Durbanville-Bellville

Don's Pawn Shop PE Police hosted Durbanville-Bellville in a Round 4 Community Cup match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors led from the "get-go" as they scored four first half tries and a further two in the second half.

Inside center, Tiaan Radyn scored their first try in the second minute, followed by Raymond Olivier's try in the seventh minute and a second try by Radyn in the seventeenth minute. Olivier converted two of the tries as they raced to a 19 - 0 lead.

Police' flank, Frans Gerber scored their first try two minutes later, Juan Smit converted as they trailed 7 - 19 after the first quarter.

Brendan April scored Durbanville-Bellville's bonus point try five minutes before half time. Olivier converted as they took a comfortable 26 - 7 lead.

Police scored their second try on half time through hooker Jeremy Sebia. Smit converted as they trailed 14 - 26 at the break.

The visitors from Cape Town scored first in the second half when flyhalf, Garth April, scored their fifth try in the forty first minute, Olivier extended their lead to 33 - 14 after a successful conversion.

Police scored back-to-back tries in the space of ten minutes, as Lyle Walters and Sebia, who scored his second and Police' bonus point try, pushed the score to 28 - 33 as Smit converted both tries with just over a quarter left to play.

Olivier scored and converted his second and Durbanville-Belville's sixth try as he gave them a twelve point cushion, 40 - 28 with twenty minutes to go.

Police fullback, Fabian Juries scored a consolation try with three minutes remaining, Smit kicked his fifth successful conversion as they trailed 35 - 40.
 
Olivier kicked a final penalty on full time, to bring his total tally to twenty three points, as he denied Police a losing bonus point.

Final score 43 - 35 to Durbanville-Bellville.

Scorers:

PE Police (14) 35 - Tries: Frans Gerber, Lyle Walters, Fabian Juries, Jeremy Sebia (2). Conversions: Juan Smit (5)

Durbanville-Bellville (26) 43 - Tries: Brendon April, Garth April, Tiaan Radyn (2), Raymond Olivier (2). Conversion: Raymond Olivier (5). Penalty: Olivier.