Powerful mauling helped Elephants trample Leopards, says Coetzee

A dominant display of powerful mauling, which produced three important tries, helped the EP Elephants trample the Leopards 43-31 in Potchefstroom on Saturday, EP coach Allister Coetzee said.

The morale-boosting victory, away from home at Olen Park, saw EP post their first victory of the season and also enabled the Gqeberha side to climb to eighth position on the 10-team SA Cup log.

Next up for the Elephants is a tough sixth-round clash against an unbeaten Griquas side at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday (5pm).

A satisfied Coetzee praised his team for showing resilience after they fought their way back into the game against the Leopards after trailing 17-0 midway through the first half.

EP have yet to win at home this season after defeats against the Falcons and SWD Eagles and Coetzee is desperate to reverse that trend.

“In the second half we put the squeeze on the Leopards and EP were very good at cutting out mistakes,” Coetzee said.

“We were clinical in scoring back-to-back tries in the second half and EP were also good at mauling, and we scored three tries from that.

EP Elephants coach Allister Coetzee. (Gallo)

“All-in-all I was happy with the win and the performance delivered by the guys.

“So it was an important victory, and now we have to build on it.”

“The game against the Leopards showed the character of the EP team to always fight to the end.

“We really finished really strongly in Potchefstroom.”

Flying EP wing Mpho Ntsane scored three tries, and there were also five pointers for Damon Royle, Garth April, Buhle Njekwa and Dandre Delport.

Fly-half April booted three conversions and replacement No 10 Maxwell Klaasen one, to complete EP’s points tally at Olen Park.

With round six looming, the battle for a top four finish and a place in the Currie Cup Premier Division is heating up with the Griquas (25 points), Pumas (22), SWD Eagles (22), Cheetahs (18) leading the pack.

The Cheetahs clawed their way back into the top four with an emphatic 57-10 win over the Griffons in Welkom on Saturday.

Cheetahs’ captain Neels Volschenk said though the win was a big boost, hard work still lay ahead for his team.

“There’s still plenty we can improve on, especially our discipline early on, where we put ourselves under unnecessary pressure,” he said.

“But I’m really pleased with how we stuck it out for one another.

“There were times when the Griffons were in our 22, and we had to dig deep, and we did that, which shows the character in the side.

“Our discipline improved nicely in the second half, which is encouraging.

“Our set piece is something we’ll definitely look at this week because it’s a key area for us.

“It was also good to see us move the ball more, and the forwards gave us quality possession, and the backs made the most of it.

“There’s still work to do at the breakdown, but our handling and willingness to play created momentum.”

Log (all teams have played five matches): Griquas 25, Pumas 22, SWD Eagles 22, Cheetahs 18, Boland Cavaliers 15, Griffons 10, Falcons 9, EP Elephants 7, Leopards 7, Border Bulldogs 0.

Weekend fixtures: Friday: Pumas v Leopards. Saturday: Boland Cavaliers v Border Bulldogs, SWD Eagles v Cheetahs, Griffons v Falcons, EP Elephants v Griquas.