The Border teams were again on the receiving end of thrashings while Free State showed the value of superior conditioning in the face of a ferocious opponent.
The Golden Lions and Western Province served up a mini test match in what should have been the final game in the showcase game of the third day.
Golden Lions 13 – 13 Western Province The draw in this game was a fair result‚ even though both sides benefited from their fair share of generous officiating.
Lions tries by David Cary and Santino Swanepoel were cancelled out by excellent tries from Thaakir Abrahams and Angelo Davids.
However‚ the Lions fought back superbly after being under the cosh and were unfortunate not to get scrum penalties as Keagan Glade and Nkosikhona Masuku took turns in owning the scrums.
In the end it was down to the goalkickers to salvage a positive result for the teams.
Free State 63 – 41 Pumas Free State had to withstand a strong Pumas onslaught with two tries in the last five minutes to pull away to a deserved victory.
After the Cheetahs took an early 21-3 lead‚ the Pumas fought back to within a point and always kept with a try of Free State.
However‚ Free State had better structure‚ speed and conditioning.
This came through in the last 10 minutes where Free State made sure they wrapped up the game as the Pumas lost their shape in chasing the win.
Limpopo Blue Bulls 59 - 41 Border A combined five tries from Siphamandla Matsinya and Jason Raubenheimer were not enough to keep the Limpopo Blue Bulls at bay.
Border were let down by some atrocious first time tackling and indifferent use of first phase ball to let the Blue Bulls take a 35-20 halftime lead.
Border were better in the second half but they were still outscored by the Northern-most region as their superior conditioning and fitness shone through.
Boland 32 – 21 Griquas Country Districts After their 80-point hammering at the hands of Free State on Day one‚ Boland bounced back in the most evenly match of the day.
It was five tries against three as Griquas Country Districts battled to live with Boland's pace and verve.
Rune Lucas and Johannes Geldenhuys were the standout players for Boland with their three combined tries but Boland's 27-7 half-time lead was always going to be too much for Griquas to overhaul.
Griffons 80 – 5 Border Country Districts If it wasn't for the Griffons showing a bit of leniency and not taking their conversions in the second half‚ it could have been an ugly cricket score.
To their credit‚ Country Districts were able to score one through Lelethu Mpepo but it was a long morning with 14 tries conceded by the Border side.
The majority of them came in the first half where 53 points were tallied up by the Griffons without reply from Border.
The Griffons played with less structure in the second half but the combined nine tries from Qamani Kota‚ Triumph Baloyi and Verlyn van Vollenhoven ensured the early morning rout.
- TimesLIVE
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