EP’s Elephants showed fighting character and resilience when they fought back from being 17-0 down in the first half to clinch a much-needed 43-31 victory over the Leopards in Potchefstroom on Saturday, coach Allister Coetzee said.
On the way to their first SA Cup win of the season, a determined EP side had to dig deep after they were on the receiving end of a yellow card and later a 20-minute red card during a hard-fought showdown
Though it took the EP until the fifth round to put an elusive “W” behind their name, the men in red and black hoops rose to the occasion to grab the points against a combative side who are difficult to beat on their home patch.
This had been a must-win game for the Elephants after an earlier run of SA Cup defeats against the Falcons, Pumas, SWD Eagles and Cheetahs.
The victory could not have come at a more opportune time for the Elephants, whose next assignment is against a high-flying Griquas side at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday (kickoff 5pm).
“This win in Potchefstroom was important for us,” Coetzee said.
“EP can only build on this result, and it was a tough game.
“We got off to a bad start again, but the players really fought back after we were 17-0 down after 23 minutes.
“The guys then clawed themselves into the lead for the first time just before halftime when we went 19-17 ahead.”
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.
“Playing with 14 men for 30 minutes was a tough ask, yet we came through and won convincingly in the end,” Coetzee said.
“Unfortunately, we had two yellow cards, and the second yellow led to a 20-minute red card for Mpho.
“One was deemed to be a deliberate knock-on early in the game, which resulted in a yellow card in the first 15 minutes of the game.
“The second yellow card was during a contestable kick incident in the second half.
“Mpho contested in the air and made contact, and it was really just a rugby incident.”
EP will hope to take confidence from the Leopards’ win into their next game against the unbeaten Griquas, who top the table with a full house of 25 points after five rounds.
They stayed on the winning track with a vital 24-14 away win over the Boland Cavaliers in Wellington on Saturday.
The Cheetahs moved into the top four thanks to a runaway 57-10 win over the Griffons in Welkom.
The Free Staters were under pressure to deliver a victory to keep their hopes of a top-four SA Cup finish and a berth in the Currie Cup Premier Division alive.
Border’s nightmare start continued when they were hammered 94-5 by the Pumas at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in KuGompo City.
The Bulldogs, who have leaked 315 points, have yet to earn a log point and are rooted to the bottom of the 10-team SA Cup log.
Weekend results:
- Falcons 40 SWD Eagles 43
- Griffons 10 Cheetahs 57
- Boland Cavaliers 14 Griquas 24;
- Border Bulldogs 5 Pumas 94
- Leopards 31 EP Elephants 43
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:
- Pumas vs Leopards
- Boland Cavaliers vs Border Bulldogs
- SWD Eagles vs Cheetahs
- Griffons vs Falcons
- EP Elephants vs Griquas
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