A bone-crunching defensive effort by the Multisure EP Elephants laid the platform for their big 52-3 win over the Border Bulldogs, EP coach Chumani Booi said.
Though EP ran in eight sparkling tries, it was the defensive effort of his players that impressed Booi most in a SuperSport Challenge rugby clash at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele on Sunday.
“We did a lot of good things on the field, but I was most impressed with our defensive effort,” Booi said.
“All the tries we scored came as a result of our strong defence. We turned the ball over and we went into our attack mode.
“I must compliment the players for working together as a collective unit.
“In the build-up to this game we were working on driving the opposition back when we tackled them.
“We know what a good attacking team the Bulldogs are and we worked hard not to give them an inch.”
Booi said the eight tries emphasised what a good attacking unit the EP side were.
“Against Border we saw what we could do on attack with ball in hand.
“Our next game is against table-topping Western Province and we will be facing tougher opposition.
“We will be humble in this victory and there are still a lot of things we have to work on.
“Now we will just take it one game at a time and ensure we put up good performances. The rest will take care of itself.”
After four rounds, only three teams are still undefeated in the competition.They are the Pumas, Western Province and Griquas, who have all started in top form.The Pumas beat the Golden Lions XV 51-33 in Johannesburg, Griquas beat the Blue Bulls 38-17 in Kimberley, and Western Province beat the Zimbabwe Academy 33-13 in Cape Town.The Sunday Rugby Festival, held at Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg, again delivered two massively competitive matches, with the Griffons downing the Welwitschias by 34-24, and the Falcons claiming a first win in the competition by beating the Leopards 52-50.Western Province (20 log points) look unstoppable at the moment in the South Section after they outplayed Zimbabwe Academy to claim a fourth full house of log points, but Boland (15 log points) have their own ambitions.The Cavaliers had their flag lowered for the first time in Durban on Friday evening when the Sharks XV (11 log points) kicked a penalty goal after the hooter to win this exciting encounter 29-28.The Free State XV (15 log points) have the advantage of players coming back into the squad after their PRO14 campaign and they showed no mercy to SWD on Saturday, beating them 64-17.Zimbabwe Academy are the only winless team and prop up the log in the South Section.