WP clinch pole position in the south
Western Province clinched pole position in the South Section of the Vodacom Cup, but the North Section is still wide open with one round of league action to go.
The Capetonians beat the SWD Eagles by 29-14 at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn and can't be surpassed at the top of the South Section log.
WP scored four tries to two to move up to 27 points, meaning the Sharks XV (21 points), Pampas XV, EP Kings and Regent Boland Kavaliers (all 20) will play for second spot next week.
In the North Section, Griquas moved back to the top of the log after they edged the Leopards by 42-40 in a high-scoring Vodacom Cup match in Potchefstroom on Friday. The visitors scored 30 points to 13 by the home team in the second half.
The defeat by the Leopards means they now have to rely on other teams to make the playoffs. Three of the top four in the North - Griquas (20 points), Ford Pumas (18) or the Vodacom Blue Bulls (16) - can still play themselves into the top two.
The Golden Lions (third on 17 points) lost their last league match, by 37-33 against the Pumas in Johannesburg, and can't finish higher than their current position.
Jaco Bouwer (2), Deon Scholtz and Torsten van Jaarsveld scored tries for the team from Mpumalanga as they recorded probably their biggest win of the season.
The other matches all went according to the form book this weekend.
In Durban, Lubabalo Mtembu scored two early tries to help the Sharks XV get their campaign back on track with a 28-18 win over the EP Kings. Although the home team raced to a handy lead early on, they never managed to get away from the plucky Kings, who never gave up as they lost only their second match of the season.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer would have been happy to see the experienced Test prop Tendai Mtawarira come through the first 55 minutes of the game - his first action this year after picking up a serious ankle injury in pre-season.
On Friday, the Regent Boland Kavaliers clinched their win for a second time this season thanks to a late try by wing Brendon April as they came from behind to beat the Border Bulldogs by 45-40 in an open game at the Boland Stadium in Wellington.
The Bulldogs probably deserved more, but are still winless after the Kavaliers pounced on an unforced error by Border to score the match-winner.
In Kempton Park, Griffons flyhalf Reinhardt Erwee produced a 100% kicking performance as his team won their first match of the Vodacom Cup season when they beat the Valke by 38-33.
Erwee kicked six from six and proved to be the the difference between winning and losing as both teams scored five tries apiece.
The defending Vodacom Cup champions, the Pampas XV, handed the Toyota Free State XV a 20-point defeat in Bloemfontein as Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias scored 25 points - including a try, four conversions, three penalties and a dropped goal - in the Argentineans' 40-20 win at the Free State Stadium.
All the scores and scorers:
Free State 20-40 Pampas
The scorers:
For Free State:
Tries: Marcel van der Merwe, Stephan van der Merwe
Cons: Nico Scheepers 2
Pens: Scheepers 2
For Pampas:
Tries: Juan Gomez, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Gabriel Ascarate, Penalty try
Cons: Gonzalez Iglesias 4
Pens: Iglesias 3
DG: Iglesias
Boland Kavaliers 45-40 Border Bulldogs
The scorers:
For Boland:
Tries: Adam Barlow, Franzel September, Ashton Constant, Jacquin Jansen 2, Zandre Jordaan, Brendon April
Cons: Elgar Watts 4, Ricardo Croy
For Border:
Tries: Vuyo Mbotho, Ntando Kebe, Lubabalo Mzwakali, Matthew Taljaard, Logan Basson
Cons: Ntabeni Dukisa 3
Pens: Dukisa 3
Falcons 33-38 Griffons
The scorers:
For Falcons:
Tries: Frederick Cronje 2, Wikus Coetzer, Willem Odendaal, Juan Kotze
Cons: Kotze 4
For Griffons:
Tries: Danie van der Merwe, Thabang Molefe, Willie Britz, Shane Hancke, Tertius Maarman
Cons: Reinhardt Erwee 5
Pen: Erwee
SWD Eagles 14-29 Western Province
The scorers:
For Eagles:
Tries: Delroy Rhoode, Clinton Wagman
Cons: Rhoode 2
For Western Province:
Tries: Tyrone Holmes, Kurt Coleman, Nic Groom, Rohan Kitshoff
Cons: Coleman 3
Pen: Catrakilis
Leopards 40-42 Griquas
The scorers:
For Leopards:
Tries: Hoffman Maritz, Henro-Pierre Swart, Berty Visser, Adriaan Engelbrecht
Cons: Andre Pretorius 4
Pens: Pretorius 3
DG: Pretorius
For Griquas:
Tries: Rynard Landman 2, PJ Vermeulen, Marnus Schoeman, Jean Stemmet, Jonathan Adendorff
Cons: Rudi Vogt 3
Pen: Vogt
Sharks 28-18 EP Kings
The scorers:
For Sharks:
Tries: Lubabalo Mtembu 2, Brynard Stander
Cons: Gouws Prinsloo 2
Pens: Prinsloo 3
For EP Kings:
Tries: Scott van Breda, Darron Nell
Cons: Justin van Staden
Pens: Van Breda 2
Lions 33-37 Pumas
The scorers:
For Lions:
Tries: Hendrik Roodt, Bradley Moolman, Ruan Combrinck
Cons: Guy Cronje 3
Pens: Cronje 4
For Pumas:
Tries: Jaco Bouwer 2, Deon Scholtz, Torsten van Jaarsveld
Cons: Coenie van Wyk 4
Pens: Van Wyk 3