Boland thump Eagles

The Boland Cavaliers beat the SWD Eagles 32-16 in Wellington on Friday, while there were also wins for the Pumas and Border in round eight of the Currie Cup qualifiers.

Boland held a slender 10-8 lead at the break, before scoring three second-half tries to secure their sixth win of the competition.

Fullback Thomas Kean put the visitors in the lead after seven minutes with a penalty goal, before wing Leighton Eksteen crossed for the opening try to put the Eagles in front 8-0. Kean missed the conversion.

Centre and captain Ryan Nell put Boland on the board as he crossed for their first try. Flyhalf Theuns Kotze added the conversion, before kicking a penalty goal in the 40th minute to give his side a two-point lead at the break.

Nell scored his second try six minutes after the restart, but Kotze failed with the conversion. Eksteen and Kotze then traded penalties, before Eksteen crossed for his and the Eagles' second try. He missed the conversion.

Flank Shaun Adendorff and centre Christopher Bosch then scored two quick converted tries late in the match.

Elsewhere on Friday, the Pumas scored a late converted try to beat the Free State XV 29-26 in Bloemfontein, while fullback Masixole Banda scored 17 points as Border beat the Valke 29-24 in East London.

Boland Cavaliers (34) – Tries: Ryan Nell (2), Shaun Adendorff, Christopher Bosch. Conversions: Theuns Kotze (3). Penalties: Kotze (2).
SWD Eagles (16) – Tries: Leighton Eksteen (2). Conversion: Eksteen. Penalty: Kean.

Free State XV (26) – Tries: Johan Coetzee, Tertius Kruger, Lorenzo Gordon, Joseph Dweba. Conversions: Sias Ebersohn (3).
Pumas (29) – Tries: Hoffman Maritz, Jannie Stander, Brian Shabangu, Tyler Fisher. Conversions: Justin van Staden (3). Penalty: Van Staden.

Border Bulldogs (29) – Tries: Lunga Dumezweni, Masixole Banda (2), Makazole Mapimpi. Conversions: Banda (2), Logan Basson. Penalty: Banda.
Valke (24) – Tries: Henri Boshoff, Shane Kirkwood, Dwight Pansegrouw. Conversions: Karlo Aspeling (2), Warren Potgieter. Penalty: Aspeling.

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images