The Bulls Daisies, Boland Dames and Border Ladies claimed wins in the 13th round of the Women’s Premier Division this past weekend, while Free State edged the SWD Eagirls to win the First Division title.
The Daisies scored seven tries in their 43-5 win against DHL Western Province in Pretoria on Saturday, with Rights Mkhari and Jakkie Cilliers bagging a brace apiece. The result marked their 11-consecutive bonus-point win of the campaign.
The good news for WP is that they are one step closer to finishing second in the standings, and hosting a semi-final, thanks to the recent result in East London.
Border Ladies went into the final league match of their campaign needing a big win to surpass the Capetonians in the standings. While they secured a 24-19 bonus-point win against the Mastercard Golden Lions Women on Saturday, they failed to improve sufficiently on their points-difference, and ultimately finished the round in third place.
Unless WP lose by a significant margin in their next match against the EP Queens, the Capetonians will remain in second place, and Border in third.
Springbok No 8 Aseza Hela scored a hat-trick as the Boland Dames claimed an important 39-5 bonus-point win against the EP Queens in Nelson Mandela Bay.
This result sees Boland finishing the round in fourth place, where they are one log point ahead of the Mastercard Golden Lions Women and Sharks Women, who both sit on 16 points.
All three sides remain in the hunt for a playoff spot, but the rescheduled match between the Sharks and the Dames in Durban – the match was initially postponed after flooding in the Boland region meant the players could not travel – which will take place in Durban on National Women’s Day (Wednesday 9 August) will see one of the two teams take a big step towards a spot in the playoffs.
Scorers:
Border Ladies 24 (19) Mastercard Golden Lions Women 15 (5)
Border– Tries: Simangele Vula, Sinenhlanhla Shozi, Hope Gosling (2). Conversions: Siphenathi Yeko (2).
Lions – Tries: Xoliswa Khuzwayo, Aliyah Tchogna-Njamen, Fatouma Yalcoue.
EP Queens 5 (0) Boland Dames 39 (15)
EP – Try: Johnerecia Booysen.
Boland – Tries: Aseza Hele (3), Machaela Samboya, Tarren Munodaani (2). Conversions: Demi Nel. Penalty goal: Nel.
Bulls Daisies 43 (31) DHL WP 5 (0)
Bulls – Tries: Asithandile Ntoyanto, Rights Mkhari (2), Jakkie Cilliers (2), Ayanda Malinga, Lucky Mahlatse. Conversions: Libbie Janse van Rensburg (4).
WP – Tries: Alichia Arries.
Free State take Women’s First Division crown
Meanwhile, Free State fought back from a four-point half-time deficit to beat the SWD Eagirls 20-19 in the First Division final staged in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The result marks Free State’s third title success in this competition, having previously won the First Division in 2015 and 2016.
The Eagirls were the defending champions and delivered a superb performance in the final at the Toyota Stadium against a Free State side that had dominated their opponents for almost the entire season.
Scorers:
Free State 20 (10) – Tries: Nomfundo Pampiri (2), Sne Mdletshe (2).
SWD Eagirls 19 (14) – Tries: Chante Jonck, Yolandi Sampson, Jerononique Murphy. Conversions: Antonecia Hannies (2).
Issued by SA Rugby Communitations
