Currie Cup

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JANUARY 19: Boldwin Hansen in action during the Carling Currie Cup match between Sigma Lions and New Nation Pumas at Emirates Airline Park on January 19, 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Anton Geyser/Gallo Images)

Currie Cup 2022: Round two results and video highlights

The Bulls surged to the top of the Currie Cup standings with a magnificent victory in Cape Town in the big match of the round.

Currie Cup

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JANUARY 19: Boldwin Hansen in action during the Carling Currie Cup match between Sigma Lions and New Nation Pumas at Emirates Airline Park on January 19, 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Anton Geyser/Gallo Images)

The Bulls surged to the top of the Currie Cup standings with a magnificent victory in Cape Town, while the Pumas and Sharks registered their first log points of the new season in Wednesday’s second round of matches.

The visiting Pumas kept the Sigma Lions try-less in a comprehensive 50-9 victory in the first match of the day in Johannesburg, while the Sharks opened their account with a nail-biting 24-23 win over Griquas in Durban.

Playing in the late evening fixture in Cape Town, the defending champion Vodacom Bulls outmuscled the DHL Western Province 40-21 to bag their second win and a full complement of five league points on offer. The Toyota Cheetahs had a bye.

Currie Cup results and highlights

Following Wednesday’s three fixtures, the Bulls increased their early-season lead on the standings to five points. They are on ten points, and are followed by the Pumas (five), who netted a bonus-point victory over the Lions. WP also have five points but are placed below the Lowvelders in the third position as a result of leaking 40 points against the Bulls.

The Cheetahs are fourth on four points, followed by the Sharks, who have the same amount, while the Griquas and Lions (one point each) complete the standings.

The next round of matches is on Wednesday, 2 February, when Griquas host the Pumas (15h30), the Cheetahs travel north to face the Bulls (17h45) and the Sharks take on WP in Durban (20h00).

Impressive Bulls outmuscle WP

The Vodacom Bulls flexed their muscles to defeat DHL Western Province 40-21 in their second-round Carling Currie Cup clash at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Wednesday evening.

The visitors from Pretoria simply had too much power, aggression and precision and went into the break with a comprehensive 28-0 lead on a perfect summer evening in the Mother City. They registered four converted tries and managed to keep the home side scoreless with solid defence.

The Vodacom Bulls added two more tries after the break, but the home side finished the match with a flurry of late tries – three in the last 15 minutes – to add some respectability to the scoreboard.

Scorers:

Western Province 21 (0) – Tries: Nama Xaba, Tristan Leyds, Marcel Theunissen. Conversions: Tim Swiel (2), Chris Schreuder.

Bulls 40 (28) – Tries: James Verity-Amm, Canan Moodie, Simphiwe Matanzima, Cyle Brink, Bismarck du Plessis, Marco Jansen van Vuren. Conversions: Morne Steyn (5).

Griquas push 14-man Sharks close in Durban

A 14-man Cell C Sharks side held on by the skin of their teeth to claim a 24-23 Carling Currie Cup win over Tafel Lager Griquas in challenging conditions at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Wednesday.

The Durbanites were in control of the contest, leading 18-6, before the match was turned on its head by a red card to Samoan international OJ Noa – among half a dozen Carling Currie Cup debutants in the home team – for a dangerous tackle on Justin Forwood in the 61st minute.

The visitors capitalised right away with Johan Retief scoring a TMO-awarded driving maul try, which Zander du Plessis converted to close the gap to 18-13. The Cell C Sharks showed good composure from there, with replacement scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba and Du Plessis trading penalty goals to leave the game on a knife-edge at 21-16 with seven minutes remaining.

Scorers:

Sharks 24 (10) – Tries: Cameron Wright, Dan Jooste. Conversion: Jordan Chait. Penalty goals: Chait, Murray Koster, Sanele Nohamba (2).

Griquas 23 (6) – Tries: Michael Amiras, Sango Xamlashe. Conversions: Zander du Plessis (2). Penalty goals: Du Plessis (3).

Pumas smash Lions in record-breaking Currie Cup win

The Airlink Pumas scored seven unanswered tries against the Sigma Lions at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon, chalking up their biggest ever Carling Currie Cup score against their Gauteng rivals by winning 50-9.

The visitors showed glimpses of their dominance in the opening half by scoring three tries for a 24-6 lead at the break. They then completely dominated the second half, outscoring and physically outplaying the hosts by 26-3 and dotting down four more times.

The Lowvelders’ pack were ruthless in their execution and played to their strengths, with the last three tries coming through driving play by the forwards. The young Lions side had no answer to the physical dominance of the Pumas and were totally outplayed, especially in the second half.

Scorers:

Lions 9 (6) – Penalty goals: Vaughen Isaacs (3).

Pumas 50 (24) – Tries: Devon Williams, Daniel Maartens, Corné Fourie, Tinus de Beer, Simon Raw, Llewellyn Classen, Brandon Valentyn. Conversions: De Beer (6). Penalty goal: De Beer.