The Sanlam Boland Cavaliers cruised to a dominant 41-03 bonus-point victory over the DHL Stormers XXIII at the Boland Rugby Stadium.
Boland started the match like a house on fire. Exceptional handling skills quickly unlocked the visitors' defence, putting fullback Domenic Smit into space to score a brilliant opening try after just two minutes of play.
The Cavaliers struck again only two minutes later. Another clinical display of passing released Xavier Mitchell, who showcased exceptional speed to cross the line in the corner. The successful conversion rapidly extended Boland’s lead to 10-00.
Following that initial 15-minute onslaught, the Stormers managed to claw their way back into the contest. After launching wave after wave of continuous attacks, the visitors opted to take the points when awarded a penalty. Flyhalf Dominic Malgas split the uprights to cut Boland’s lead to 10-03 after 17 minutes of play.]
The remainder of the first half turned into an even, physical battle. However, Boland had the final say of the period when Jayden Bantom converted a penalty with three minutes left on the clock. His kick extended the Cavaliers' advantage to 13-03 heading into the halftime break.
Boland wasted no time reasserting their authority in the second half. Just six minutes after the restart, the Cavaliers spread the ball wide from a five-metre lineout. Hooker Joshua Erasmus crashed through three defenders to score Boland’s third try. Bantom added the extra two points to push the scoreline to 20-03.
The decisive bonus-point try arrived 10 minutes later. A sweeping, all-player attack ran the Stormers' defence to pieces, allowing Bantom to cross the whitewash himself. His score extended Boland's commanding lead to 27-03 after 16 minutes of second-half action.
With the Cavaliers running amok, another sequence of brilliant hands put the unstoppable Bantom over in the corner for his second try, which he converted to make it 34-03.
Four minutes before the final whistle, Bantom put the icing on the cake. Showing incredible pace, he burst through to complete his hat-trick and slot the conversion.
The final whistle secured a well-deserved 41-03 bonus-point victory for Boland, with Bantom contributing an incredible 26 points to his team's total.
Scorers:
Sanlam Boland Cavaliers: Tries: Domenic Smit, Xavier Mitchell, Joshua Eras, Jayden Bantom (3). Conversions: Jayden Bantom (4). Penalties: Jayden Bantom.
DHL StormersXXIII: Penalty: Dominic Malgas.
Teams:
Sanlam Boland Cavaliers: 15 Domenic Smit, 14 Xavier Mitchell, 13 Lunathi Nxele, 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Jayden Bantom, 10 Chris Smit, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Thurlow Marsh (c), 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Gift Dlamini, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Jeandré Leonard, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Joshua Eras, 1 Alistair Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Mthokozisi Gumede, 18 Heiko Pohlmann, 19 Johnré Stopforth, 20 Taine Booysen, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Ashlon Davids, 23 David Brits.
DHL Stormers XXIII: 15 Dylan Miller, 14 Gino Cupido, 13 Josh Boulle, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Dominic Malgas, 9 Stefan Ungerer (c), 8 Wandile Mlaba, 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Keke Morabe, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Dylan de Leeuw, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Oli Kebble. Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Luan Botha, 21 Xola Nyali, 22 Tiaan Fourie, 23 Kian Davis