There were blowout wins for Griquas and Boland in round three of the SA Cup as they cemented their place at the top of the standings.
The Cavaliers thumped the Valke 73-24 in Wellington, while Griquas embarrassed Border 97-7 in Kimberley.
The two teams sit top of the 10-team log on 15 points after three matches each.
In other results, the SWD Eagles claimed a 26-17 win against a spirited Eastern Province, while the Griffins beat the Leopards 29-23 in Welkom.
The Friday night clash between the Cheetahs and defending champion Pumas in Bloemfontein was abandoned due to a lightning storm, with the teams sharing the points.
MORE: Points shared as lightning strikes in Bloem
The Pumas and SWD sit on 12 log points, followed by the Griffons (10), Cheetahs (eight) and Valke (five), while EP (two), the Leopards (one) and Border (zero) lag at the bottom.
Boland maintained their impressive start to the competition when they outscored the Valke by 11 tries to three.
The home side were already out of sight by half-time at 40-17.
Two tries by Erik Lambrecht and one each by Jade Stighling and Domenic Smit gave Boland an early 26-3 lead.
The Valke initially stayed in the fight via two Zeilinga Strydom tries and the boot of Sergio Stalmeester, but with a dominant pack, Boland scored again through Dayan van der Westhuizen and Sauliegh Arendse.
In the second half, the hosts added further tries by Joshua Eras, a brace by Xavier Mitchell – who had scored four the week before – Michael Benadie and Thurlow Marsh.
ALSO: Cheetahs staff face retrenchment
In Kimberley, Griquas ran in 15 tries against Border.
Openside flanker Marco de Witt set the tone with an early try, quickly followed by scores from Mnombo Zwelendaba, Dylan Maart and Connor Mahoney, as the hosts raced into a 47-0 half-time lead.
The second half brought more of the same as centre Thomas Nel completed a brace, while Gurshwin Wehr, Bobby Alexander, Carl Els, and Sako Makata all dotted down.
The Bulldogs managed a brief moment of celebration when Sakhekile Dingile crossed shortly after the interval.
Zinedine Robinson and George Whitehead slotted a combined 12 conversions between them.
Next week’s fourth-round fixtures see the Pumas host the Valke in Nelspruit on Friday night. On Saturday, the SWD Eagles will face a stern test when they host Boland in George, the Leopards welcome Border to Potchefstroom, EP travel to Bloem to take on the Cheetahs, and Griquas entertain the Griffons in Kimberley.
SA Cup Round 3 results
Cheetahs 7 Pumas 10 (match abandoned)
Boland Cavaliers 73 Valke 24
Griffons 29 Leopards 23
Griquas 97 Border Bulldogs 7
Eastern Province 17 SWD Eagles 26
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post Griquas, Boland make the running in SA Cup appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
There were blowout wins for Griquas and Boland in round three of the SA Cup as they cemented their place at the top of the standings.
The post Griquas, Boland make the running in SA Cup appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
