EP’s hopes of reaching the SA Rugby Under-21 Shield playoffs were shattered when the Border Bulldogs pulled off a stunning win over the Boland Cavaliers in East London on Saturday.
The Elephants entered the final round of fixtures knowing they had to beat the SWD Eagles and that the Cavaliers had to subdue the Bulldogs to keep their semifinal hopes alive.
EP achieved the first part of their mission on Friday when they beat the Eagles 35-21 at the Madibaz Stadium in Gqeberha.
Their playoffs hopes were dashed the next day when Border upset the apple cart by beating the log-leading Bolanders 34-31 at Police Park in East London.
Border will now face Boland in the south section final with the winners progressing to meet the winners of the north section in a grand national final.
After the sixth round and final round of league fixtures, Boland ended top with 24 points and they were followed by Border (21), EP (18) and SWD (12).
The Elephants came charging out of the starting blocks and led 21-7 at halftime against the Eagles, much to the delight of the home crowd at the Madibaz Stadium.
EP went into the match with their confidence boosted after a win over the Border Bulldogs in their previous outing in East London.
“We had been fully focused on beating the Eagles in our final league fixture,” EP coach Shaun “Trok” Oliver said.
“We started off well and scored first and led 14-0 after 12 minutes.
“Unfortunately, we then let things slip a little bit when we lost concentration.
“The Eagles came fighting back, but we regrouped and pulled everything together to lead 21-7 at halftime.
“Our forward dominance in the opening half, but in the second period things were a bit up and down.
“Thanks to some good scrumming from the boys coming off the the bench we were able to secure victory.
“EP had few injury scares during the game when we lost key players.
“But we kept things together and the five points are in the bag.
“It was was not the perfect performance but there were some good moments in the game.
“The boys showed character after we received a yellow card.
“EP can can be proud of themselves.”
EP’s try scorers were Lwando Gotyana, Johan van Zijl, Sean van Zijl, Ethan Vitealingum and Mu-eed Fritz.
Fullback Lyle Meintjies booted five conversions and a penalty to boost EP’s points tally.
After launching their campaign with a 32-13 win over the SWD Eagles in George, EP were given a reality check when they slumped to a heavy 63-36 defeat against the Boland Cavaliers in round two.
That was followed by a narrow 35-31 defeat against the Border Bulldogs at the Madibaz Stadium in Gqeberha.
Nine provincial teams have been divided into two sections in the Shield tournament, with the south comprising Boland, Border, EP and SWD.
The north group features the Pumas, Harmony Griffons, Griquas, Falcons and Limpopo.
Teams in the south section play three home and three away matches and in the north a single round of four matches are played.
At the conclusion of the league phase, the two teams with the highest number of log points contest the semifinals within their sections, and the two winners progress to the grand north vs south final.
The Herald
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