WP thump Griffons

Western Province beat the Griffons 43-26 in Athlone on Saturday, while the SWD Eagles and Pumas also won their Currie Cup Qualifier matches.

Centres Jaco Taute and EW Viljoen each scored a brace of tries as the home side dominated from start to finish, outscoring the Griffons seven tries to two.

Taute opened the scoring for WP when he crossed for the opening try in the second minute, with hooker Chad Solomon going over soon after.

Flank Eital Bredenkamp then scored the hosts’ third try, before Griffons flyhalf George Whitehead kicked three penalties and a drop goal to keep his side in the match.

Taute completed his brace early in the second half. Viljoen was next to score in the 57th minute and completed his brace four minutes later.

No 8 De Wet Kruger and Gerard Baard scored tries for the visitors late in the game, but WP had the last say when replacement scrumhalf Justin Phillips dotted down.

Elsewhere on Saturday, flyhalf and captain Martin du Toit scored a hat-trick of tries and wing Daniel Roberts a brace as the SWD Eagles smashed the Welwitschias 96-5 in Windhoek, while the Pumas recorded their seventh victory of the qualifiers with a 35-13 win against the Sharks XV in Newcastle.

Western Province (43) – Tries: Jaco Taute (2), Chad Solomon, Eital Bredenkamp, EW Viljoen (2), Justin Phillips. Conversions: Robert du Preez (4).
Griffons (26) – Tries: De Wet Kruger, Gerard Baard. Conversions: George Whitehead (2). Penalties: Whitehead (3). Drop goal: Whitehead.

Welwitschias (5) – Try: Lesley Kim.
SWD Eagles (96) – Tries: Thor Halvorsen, Lodewyk Uys, Daniel Roberts (2), Kurt Haupt, Janneman Stander, Martin du Toit (3), Jacquin Jansen, Wilneth Engelbrecht, Christo du Plessis, Layle Delo, Andisa Ntsila. Conversions: Jansen (7), Hansie Graaff (2), Thomas Kean (4).

Sharks XV (13) – Tries: Nkululeko Marwana. Conversion: Tristan Tredder. Penalties: Tredder (2)
Pumas (35) – Tries: Hoffman Maritz, Carel Greff (2), Lambert Groenewald, Jacques Kotze. Conversions: Justin van Staden (5).

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images