The Bulls Daisies continued their dominance of the SA Rugby Women's Premier Division right up to the final round on Saturday by overpowering the Mastercard Golden Lions to record their 12th win with a full house of points.
The Pretoria team won all their league matches by huge margins, with Saturday's 105-0 victory over their hosts in Alberton, the third century of their campaign.
DHL Western Province confirmed their second position on the log at City Park, beating the EP Queens 49-0, which was also their biggest victory of the tournament.
The win secured hosting rights for the semi-finals next weekend, where they will meet Border Ladies, who finished their league fixtures last weekend.
Boland Dames managed their best season in the Premier Division with a fourth-placed finish and will now travel to Pretoria to take on the Daisies, despite dropping a close 15-14 result to the Hollywoodbets Sharks Women in Vredendal on Saturday.
The visitors from KZN scored twice in the last 20 minutes to secure the win and finish their season on a positive note. Boland managed to score first before the Sharks responded just before the break for a tight 7-5 lead to the Dames.
The Bolanders extended their lead with a lovely team try, superbly finished off by outside centre Machaela Samboya, and looked set to repeat their midweek win over the same opponents. Credit to the Sharks though, who rallied with two late tries to seal the win.
It was one-way traffic in Alberton. As hard as the Lions tried, they just could not match the speed and execution of the Daisies. The backline’s crisp passing and hard running by their loose forwards has been a highlight of the Daisies this season and Saturday was no different. In all, they scored 17 tries for a remarkable win.
Libbie Janse van Rensburg added two tries to her eight conversions in the match to finish the league phase with 104 points. She kicked 38 conversions during the season, but when it came to tries, it wasn’t a player from the Daisies player, but rather DHL Western Province wing Asiphe Mayaba who topped the try-scoring stakes.
Mayaba scored her 13th try of the season in WP’s 49-0 win over EP Queens. The Capetonians were always in control and it was their dangerous backs who again created carnage. It is good news for the team in blue and white hoops that Alichia Arries is getting back to her best as well, with the speedster bagging three tries in the commanding win at City Park.
Scorers:
Mastercard Golden Lions 0 (0), Bulls Daisies 105 (62)
Daisies – Tries: Micke Gunter (2), Vainah Ubisi (2), Anathi Qolo, Lusanda Dumke, Rights Mkhari, Sizophila Solontsi (2), Libbie Janse van Rensburg (2), Jakkie Cilliers, Ayanda Malinga (2), Rachelle du Plessis, Zintle Nonkasana, Maria Tshiremba. Conversions: Janse van Rensburg (8), Cilliers (2).
DHL Western Province 49 (24), EP Queens 0 (0)
WP – Tries: Anelisiwe Mxabo, Alichia Arries (3), Shaunique Hess, Asiphe Mayaba, Chuma Qawe (2), Donelle Snyders. Conversions: Elme Kruger (2).
Boland Dames 14 (7), Hollywoodbets Sharks Women 15 (5)
Dames – Tries: Anelisa Jita, Machaela Samboya. Conversions: Tarren Munodaani (2).
Sharks – Tries: Nompumelolo Mathe, Mbali Bukhosini, Buhle Msomi.
Final standings after 12 rounds:
1 Bulls Daisies – 60 points
2 DHL Western Province – 42
3 Border Ladies – 37
4 Boland Dames – 23
5 Hollywoodbets Sharks Women – 20
6 Mastercard Golden Lions Women – 20
7 EP Queens – 8
