Rugby: Kenya extend losing streak at Vodacom Cup in South Africa

BY BS MULAVI

The Tusker Simbas continued with their torrid run in the Vodacom Cup as they went down 40-3 to the Cell C Sharks in South Africa on Saturday evening.

This was their fifth consecutive defeat in the tournament in six rounds of games, with their only victory coming against the EP Kings in their first match of the tournament.

Unlike their previous defeat to Western Province last weekend, where the Simbas received a bonus point for scoring four tries, there was little to celebrate in their defeat against the Sharks.

Kenya’s only score came through fly-half Kenny Andola who converted a single penalty in the opening exchanges of the second half.

Kenya’s only reprieve for the game will be the fact that the game looked close in the first half, with the two teams going to the break with the Sharks only leading by a 12-0 margin courtesy of four penalties from Tim Swiel.

However the floodgates opened in the second half after Simbas front row Joseph Kangethe was sin-binned for ten minutes.

Centre Neil Maritz and replacement prop Thomas du Toit both went over while Kangethe was in the bin. Swiel converted both tries and the visitors had a substantial lead at 26-0.

Joahn Meyer who was forced to the blood-bin after a knock in the first half shrugged off his injury and scored the third try shortly thereafter. Swiel had been in superb form with his goal kicking and added the conversion to take his personal tally to 18 points.

Big impact

The Sharks XV bench had made a big impact and replacement centre Andre Esterhuizen sealed the win with his try and conversion. The Sharks XV face the EP Kings next and essentially only need a single log point to seal the top spot on the log of South Section.

The Simba XV will travel to Bloemfontein to play the Free State XV and will look to end their season on a high note as they have no chance of progressing further in the competition.

Meanwhile, Western Province were boosted by a few fresh faces as they recorded a 28-15 Vodacom Cup victory over the visiting Free State XV at City Park.

The win guarantees the Province a place in the quarterfinals and the chance to finish second if they beat the SWD Eagles at Outeniqua Park in George next week.

—Additional reporting by Supersport.com