In the Carling Currie Cup First Division, the Leopards and Down Touch Griffons sealed home ground advantage in the semi-finals, where they will be joined by the Valke – whose left-wing Valentino Wellman scored four tries against Eastern Province this weekend – and Boland Kavaliers as the league phase came to an end.
Potchefstroom and Welkom will be the destinations for the Carling Currie Cup First Division semi-finals after the league phase of the competition came to an end on Saturday, with the Leopards and Down Touch Griffons taking the top two spots on the log.
The Boland Kavaliers will have to travel to Olën Park to face the Leopards, and the Valke are in action against the Northern Free Staters at Griffons Stadium next weekend.
All three northern teams will go into the playoffs with winning momentum, but the Bolanders face a tough ask against the table-topping Leopards after they were beaten by 44-14 in their final pool match, with Jaywinn Juries scoring 20 points for the Down Touch Griffons in this win.
Valentino Wellman was on fire for the Valke, dotting down four times in their 39-23 win over Eastern Province in Brakpan on Friday.
And in the third match this weekend, the Leopards underlined their class as they scored seven tries to two in a 56-13 romp over Border on Saturday, keeping the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half in the process.
The two semi-finals in the Carling Currie Cup First Division will be broadcast live on SuperSport this weekend.
On Friday afternoon, the Leopards host the Boland Kavaliers in Potchefstroom, and on Saturday the Valke take on the Down Touch Griffons in Welkom.
The match at Olën Park, home of the table-topping Leopards, will kick off at 16h35 – in between two Premier Division matches also scheduled for Friday – while Saturday’s semi-final at the Griffons Stadium is scheduled to start at 11h30.
Scorers:
Valke 39 (17) Eastern Province 23 (23)
Valke – Tries: Valentino Wellman (4), Penalty try. Conversions: Anrich Richter (2), Joshua Vermeulen. Penalties: Richter (2).
Eastern Province – Tries: Davian Swanepoel, Riaan Arends. Conversions: Keagan September (2). Penalties: Keagan September (2).
Leopards 56 (28) Border Bulldogs 13 (13)
Leopards – Tries: Heinz Bertram, Lincoln Daniels (2), Riaan Genis, Charl Pretorius, Gustav du Rand, Rocky Groenewald. Conversions: Danrich Visagie (6), Keagan Fortune.
Border Bulldogs – Tries: Ntsikomzi Daka, Vuyisani Mavuso. Penalty: Litha Nkula.
Down Touch Griffons 44 (23) Boland Kavaliers 14 (7)
Down Touch Griffons – Tries: Soso Xakalashe, Jaywinn Juries, Morne Joubert, Niel Stannard, Granwill Matthys. Conversions: Jaywin Juries (3), Joubert, Duan Pretorius. Penalty goals: Jaywin Juries (3).
Boland Kavaliers – Tries: John Lourens, Bjorkan Hendricks. Conversions: John Lourens (2).