ANATHI WULUSHE
Border and Eastern Province will have a share of the Eastern Cape Super 14 semifinals this weekend.
This is after the progression of EP’S Progress, Brumbies and Border‘s East London Police and Young Leopards from the quarterfinals at the weekend.
Young Leopards will travel away to Kariega‘s Progress, while Police will host Grahamstown Brumbies in the semifinals this weekend.
Though not yet confirmed by the organisers, venues are likely to be Police Park in Cambridge and Central Field in Kariega.
Police narrowly beat Star of Hope 14-7, while Leopards dismantled Trying Stars 33-10.
EP’S Progress beat visiting Fort Beaufort United 28-23, and the Brumbies made a comeback to get past Swallows 39-33 to book their semifinals berth.
At Police Park, the home team were made to sweat by Star of Hope from Kwanobuhle.
They couldn’t penetrate the Stars’ defence, and as a result, Police only had a narrow 7-0 lead by halftime.
Star of Hope made things interesting when they dotted a converted try, but the Bobbies’ seven-pointer in the second stanza was enough to get them over the finish line.
At Ducats, it was one-way traffic as Amahobobohobo raised their hand as serious contenders to lift the trophy.
After 40 minutes, they had a 16-3 lead over Trying Stars.
Though the visitors scored a converted try in the second half, it was only a consolation.
Swallows were left kicking themselves in Makhanda as they blew a 23-10 first-half advantage.
The Mdantsane side’s forward pack, which was instrumental in pinning down the Brumbies and not allowing them to get easy ball from the rucks, were fatigued in the second half.
That allowed the Brumbies’ backline, whom the Swallows camp were wary of before the game, to get easy ball from the breakdown.
The Brumbies’ fast backs played a major role, ripping through the scrambling Swallows’ defence, with the Makhanda side scoring 29 points to Swallows’ 10.
FB United’s slow start in their game against Progress was their downfall. By the halftime interval, they were already trailing 21-8 in what was a repeat of the 2025 final of the provincial competition.
But in the second half, the team from Kwamaqoma recovered.
Under immense pressure and a loud crowd in Kariega, FB United sparked a comeback.
They scored 15 points in the second half and made matters interesting heading into the dying minutes of the game, as the difference between the two teams was a mere five points.
But FB United couldn’t pull off the heist. — Daily Dispatch
