Lions lash Griffons

The Golden Lions XV ran in 10 tries to beat the Griffons 66-19 in Johannesburg on Saturday, while there were also Currie Cup Qualifier wins for the Free State XV, Western Province, Border Bulldogs and Griquas.

Outside centre Stokkies Hanekom and No 8 Ruaan Lerm each scored a brace as the home side bagged five tries in each half to pick up just their sixth win of the competition.

Lions inside centre Jacques Nel crossed for the opening try in the first minute and flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff added the extras. The Griffons hit back with an unconverted try through wing Warren Williams.

The hosts then scored four more tries as they dominated the rest of the half with Hanekom, prop Clinton Theron, Lerm and flank Stephan de Wit all adding their names to the scoresheet.

Hanekom and Lerm completed their braces early in the second half, before wing Koch Marx scored the Lions' eighth try.

The Griffons hit back with a converted try from fullback Selvyn Davids, but replacement centre Jarryd Sage and fullback JW Bell added two more converted tries for the hosts. Davids completed a brace on the stroke full-time, but it was scant consolation.

In Saturday’s other matches, centre Ali Mgijima scored a late try as the Free State XV edged the Valke 33-27 in Bloemfontein, Western Province scored six tries to beat the SWD Eagles 45-17 in Cape Town, centre Makazole Mapimpi scored four tries as the Border Bulldogs thrashed the Welwitschias 76-18 in Windhoek, and wing Ntabeni Dukisa scored a brace to help the Griquas to a 29-12 win against the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth.

Free State XV (33) – Tries: Tertius Kruger, Jean-Pierre Coetzee, Reinhardt Erwee, Ntokozo Vidima, Ali Mgijima. Conversions: Sias Ebersohn (4).
Valke (27) – Tries: Grant Janke, Dwight Pansegrouw, Etienne Taljaard. Conversions: Warren Potgieter (3). Penalties: Potgieter (2).

Golden Lions XV (66) – Tries: Jacques Nel, Stokkies Hanekom (2), Clinton Theron, Ruaan Lerm (2), Stephan de Wit, Koch Marx, Jarryd Sage, JW Bell. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (4), Ashlon Davids (4).
Griffons (19) – Tries: Warren Williams, Selvyn Davids (2). Conversions: Colin Herbert (2).

Western Province (45) – Tries: Johnny Kotze, Chad Solomon, Sibahle Maxwane, Tim Whitehead, Luke Stringer, Chris van Zyl. Conversions: Robert du Preez (6). Penalty: Du Preez.
SWD Eagles (17) – Tries: Daniel Roberts, Kurt Haupt. Conversions: Jacquin Jansen (2). Penalty: Jansen.

Welwitschias (18) – Tries: Mahco Prinsloo, Phillip Nashikaku. Conversion: Riaan van Zyl. Penalties: Van Zyl (2).
Border Bulldogs (76) – Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (4), Johannes Jonker, Logan Basson, Athenkosi Khethani (2), Sonwabiso Mqalo (2), Michael Makase, Nkululeko Nbdlovu. Conversions: Masixole Banda, Basson (7).

EP Kings (12) – Tries: Lusanda Badiyana, JP Jamieson. Conversions: Garrick Mattheus.
Griquas (29) – Tries: Ntabeni Dukisa (2), Alshaun Block, André Swarts. Conversions: Swarts (3). Penalty: Swarts.

Friday results

Photo: Gallo Images