It was a good day for the teams from Central South Africa. The Peacock Blues ran the Sigma Lions off their feet for their 49-17 triumph in Kimberley in the first match, after which the Free Staters beat the men in the blue and white hoops by 24-17 in Bloemfontein.

In the day’s late evening match, the defending champions from Pretoria bounced back to winning ways to down the Cell C Sharks 35-21 at a wet Loftus Versfeld. The Airlink Pumas had a bye in this round.

Following the latest round of matches, the Toyota Cheetahs consolidated their top spot on the standings with 22 points after five matches, two points clear of the Vodacom Bulls (20 points), who in turn are now two points above the Cell C Sharks (18 points), who slipped to third place after their defeat in Pretoria.

Tafel Lager Griquas cemented their place in the top four with their third win from six matches – one more than the other teams in the competition – and have 15 points, while DHL WP (seven points), the Airlink Pumas (five points) and Sigma Lions (two points) complete the rest of the league positions.

The next round of fixtures is scheduled for next Wednesday, when DHL WP take on the Airlink Pumas in Cape Town, the Cell C Sharks host the Toyota Cheetahs in Durban, and the Vodacom Bulls travel south on the N1 to play the Sigma Lions in Johannesburg.

Elrich Louw scored one of the Vodacom Bulls' five tries.

Vodacom Bulls snap Cell C Sharks’ winning streak in Pretoria

The Vodacom Bulls overturned a 18-14 halftime deficit to score a bonus-point 35-21 win over the Cell C Sharks, who came into the match on an unbeaten streak of four wins.

The hosts managed to score four tries and also earned a penalty try as they piled on the pressure in the second half, with the team from KwaZulu-Natal struggling in the lineouts whilst also having difficulty in dealing with the hosts' powerful maul.

Gert Smal's team made an immediate impact at the restart and they managed to gain confidence in the wet to grind out a vital win.

Scorers:

Vodacom Bulls 35 (14) – Tries: Madosh Tambwe, Penalty try, Keagan Johannes, Arno Botha, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Morne Steyn (4).

Cell C Sharks 21 (18) – Tries: Murray Koster, Marnus Potgieter. Conversion: Jordan Chait. Penalty goals: Chait (2), Inny Radebe.

Toyota Cheetahs too strong for DHL WP in Bloemfontein

The Toyota Cheetahs flexed their muscles with a much-improved second half performance to register a well-deserved 24-17 victory over a youthful DHL Western Province in Bloemfontein.

It was the visitors who kept the free-scoring hosts pointless in a tightly contested first half to lead 3-0 at the halfway stage. However, the home side turned things around in the second stanza through three converted tries and a penalty goal while the Cape outfit managed to reply with two converted tries and a penalty goal.

Angelo Davids goes over for a spectacular try for DHL WP in Bloemfontein.

Skipper and No 9, Ruan Pienaar, and his fellow experienced Springbok Frans Steyn (inside centre) were once again hugely influential figures as the Toyota Cheetahs stretched their unbeaten winning streak to five games.

Scorers:

Toyota Cheetahs 24 (0) – Tries: Marnus van der Merwe, Gideon van der Merwe, Reinhardt Fortuin. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (3). Penalty goal: Pienaar.

DHL Western Province 17 (3) – Tries: Angelo Davids, Roelof Smit. Conversions: Kade Wolhuter (2). Penalty goal: Wolhuter.

Tafel Lager Griquas run Sigma Lions off their feet in Kimberley

Tafel Lager Griquas returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion as they stormed to a 49-17 victory over the Sigma Lions in their Carling Currie Cup clash in Kimberley on Wednesday afternoon.

Pieter Bergh’s charges turned Tafel Lager Park into a slow cooker, dominating territory and possession and sapping the energy out of the visitors in the first half to lead 14-3 at the break before running rampant in the second, scoring seven tries in all to wipe away the disappointment of their defeat to the Vodacom Bulls last time out.

The Peacock Blues’ place-kickers enjoyed a perfect afternoon, Zander du Plessis adding five conversions and replacement Prince Nkabinde slotting the final two to cap off a dominant display in the Diamond City.

The visitors fought valiantly but a brutal second quarter, in which they were forced to defend in their 22 for the most part, and a missed opportunity to capatilise when the hosts were down to 14 men, sucked the life out of them. 

Scorers:

Tafel Lager Griquas 49 (14) – Tries: Munier Hartzenberg, Johan Mulder, Sango Xamlashe, Kudzwai Dude, Mzwanele Zito, Rynhardt Jonker, Hanru Sirgel. Conversions: Zander du Plessis (5), Prince Nkabinde (2).

Sigma Lions 17 (3) – Tries: James Mollentze, Divan Rossouw. Conversions: James Tedder (2). Penalty goal: James Tedder.