EP’s Elephants were unable to get their legs over the final hurdle in a last-ditch bid to avoid the wooden spoon in the south section of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge.
Needing a win to climb above the Border Bulldogs, the Elephants stumbled to a 20-12 defeat to the Boland Cavaliers at the WJ de Wet Stadium in Despatch.
After eight rounds, Border (11 points) ended just one point ahead of the Elephants on the final log.
Elephants coach Ryan Felix predicted that the game would be like a cup final for the Bolanders and his assessment proved to be correct.
Thanks to their win, the Cavaliers clinched a berth in the quarterfinals, which will give them a shot at winning the R500 000 on offer for the champions.
The first half was a tight affair, but Boland managed to keep their hosts off the scoreboard and then built on their advantage in the second.
The Elephants were coming off their first win in the campaign – against Border Bulldogs in East London last weekend.
After fly-half Elgar Watts slotted a ninth-minute penalty, prop Arnout Malherbe crashed over for the opening try of the game for the Bolanders.
Watts was again on target from the kicking tee to make it 10-0 in the 18th minute.There was no addition to the scoreboard for the remainder of the half.
Four minutes after the restart, Boland No 8 Ludio Williams dotted down for his team’s second try and Watts landed the conversion.
The Elephants finally opened their account in the 76th minute when flank Brendon Brown scored.
And EP had the final say of the match as hooker Mbeko Kota forced his way over for replacement flyhalf Simon Bolze to convert.
Point scorers: EP Elephants 12: Tries: Brendon Brown, Mbeko Kota.
Conversion: Simon Bolze Boland Cavaliers 20: Tries: Arnout Malherbe, Ludio Williams.
Conversions: Elgar Watts (2).
Penalties: Elgar Watts (2) In another match, Western Province ended top of the south section standings after a convincing 41-16 win over the SWD Eagles.
The victory left WP, favoured to lift the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for a second consecutive season, with an unbeaten record after the league stage of the competition.