The Vodacom Bulls kicked off the seventh round – the first of the cross-section fixtures – by beating the Airlink Pumas 40-24 in Nelspruit on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, the Fidelity ADT Lions turned on the style in defeating defeat DHL Western Province 41-22 in their early afternoon meeting in Johannesburg, and thereafter the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV triumphed by 25-20 over the defending champions, the Toyota Cheetahs, in Bloemfontein.

Suzuki Griquas had too much firepower for the NovaVit Griffons in their 59-7 triumph in Welkom on Sunday as they moved to within one point of the Capetonians on the log.

The Vodacom Bulls produced a dominant start and scored four tries in the opening 30 minutes against the Airlink Pumas in Nelspruit, where the visitors built a solid 26-5 half-time lead.

However, the hosts showed remarkable resilience in the second stanza to fight back to within two points of the log leaders.

The Fidelity ADT Lions' Renzo du Plessis was a handful against DHL WP.

The team from Mpumalanga scored three tries in this period to bring them back within two points of the visitors at 26-24. But the Vodacom Bulls showed their pedigree and they responded decisively with two crucial tries, ensuring a 40-24 win and maintaining their unbeaten run in the competition.

Playing in the early Saturday fixture in Johannesburg, the Fidelity ADT Lions delivered another commanding performance to secure a solid victory over DHL Western Province. The hosts earned their try-scoring bonus-point in the first half already and lead 28-8 at the break, with the impressive Renzo du Plessis leading the charge with a hat-trick of tries.

The Gautengers started the second half where they left at break by scoring again shortly after the resumption. Although DHL WP showed some flashes of promise and Junior Springbok JC Mars, playing on the wing, completed his brace after the break, the hosts’ overall quality and solid scrum secured them another good victory as they consolidated their position in the top two.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks XV pulled off a superb, if somewhat unexpected victory over holders Toyota Cheetahs to move into semi-final contention. Experienced speedster Yaw Penxe was instrumental in the victory as he scored two tries to hand his side a 18-10 half-time lead.

The Toyota Cheetahs came back hard, with tries through Corne Fourie, Vernon Paulo and Ethan Wentzel, but Eduan Keyter’s five-pointer four minutes from full-time secured the visitors a crucial win in Bloemfontein.

In the final match of the round played Sunday in Welkom, the Suzuki Griquas claimed their third win of the campaign by beating the NovaVit Griquas 57-7 in bright Northern Free State sunshine.

Eduan Keyter celebrates scoring the winning try for the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV.

Marco de Witt scored twice for Suzuzi Griquas.

The visitors dominated the set pieces and looked dangerous whenever they sent the ball wide, while keeping the potent home attack in check with good defence throughout.

The Northern Cape side led 24-7 at the halfway mark and kicked on the second half to eventually score nine tries and seven conversions, while the hosts could only reply with a single converted try. Sako Makata, Marco de Witt, and the speedy Connor Mahoney each scored a brace of tries for the Suzuki Griquas.

Following the latest round’s fixtures, the Vodacom Bulls increased their points tally to 31 from six wins and a draw, three more than second-placed Fidelity ADT Lions. The Toyota Cheetahs are now third on 24 points, only three more than the fourth-placed Hollywoodbets Sharks XV, who leapfrogged the Airlink Pumas (fifth on 19 points).

DHL WP are sixth on 14 points, followed by Suzuki Griquas (13) and NovaVit Griffons (2).

This coming Friday, the Vodacom Bulls host Suzuki Griquas in Pretoria (19h05); and on Saturday, DHL WP welcome the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV to the DHL Stadium (15h00) before the Toyota Cheetahs host the Fidelity ADT Lions in Bloemfontein (17h00). On Sunday, the NovaVit Griffons take on the Airlink Pumas in Welkom (15h00).

Scorers:

Airlink Pumas 24 (5), Vodacom Bulls 40 (26)
Airlink Pumas – Tries: Eddie Swart, Darren Adonis, Tino Swanepoel, Clinton Swart. Conversions: Clinton Swart (2).
Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Joe van Zyl (2), Cornel Smit, Sibongile Novuka, Devon Williams, Chris Smit. Conversions: Keagan Johannes (4), Jaco van der Walt.

Fidelity ADT Lions 41 (28), DHL Western Province 22 (8)
Fidelity ADT Lions – Tries: Renzo du Plessis (3), Bronson Mills, Quan Horn. Conversions: Nico Steyn (2). Penalty goals: Steyn (4).
DHL Western Province – Tries: JC Mars (2), Paul de Villiers. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2). Penalty goal: Matthee.

Toyota Cheetahs 20 (10), Hollywoodbets Sharks XV 25 (18)
Toyota Cheetahs – Tries: Ethan Wentzel, Corne Fourie, Vernon Paulo. Conversion: Wentzel. Penalty goal: Wentzel.
Hollywoodbets Sharks XV – Tries: Yaw Penxe (2), Eduan Keyter. Conversions: Lionel Cronje (2). Penalty goals: Cronje (2).

Novavit Griffons 7 (7), Suzuki Griquas 59 (25)
Novavit Griffons – Try: Mango Ngundue. Conversion: Andrew Kota.
Suzuki Griquas - Tries: Sako Makata (2), Marco de Witt (2), Connor Mahoney (2), Dylan Maart, Dandre Delport, Tertius Kruger. Conversions: Zinedine Robinson (5), Tylor Sefoor (2).