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Golden Cats ease past Wellington 43-27
Posted: Saturday March 27, 1999 05:36 PM
BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) -- The Golden Cats bounced back from three consecutive losses to beat New Zealand's Wellington Hurricanes 43-27 Saturday in a Super 12 rugby union match at Free State Stadium. The home side led 26-10 at halftime. The Cats gained confidence from their strong performance against the Otago Highlanders last week -- a one-point loss -- and against the Hurricanes already had a bonus point wrapped up before halftime thanks to tries from loosehead prop Dirkie Groenewald, lock Albert van den Berg, center Conrad Stoltz and right wing Jannie van der Walt. Groenewald's opening try in the eighth minute cam from a scrum near the Hurricanes' line which the Cats veered to the right. The prop was on hand in the end to finish off a succession of drives. The Hurricanes managed to gain the lead by the21st minute after flyhalf David Holwell added a try and conversion to an earlier penalty. He owed the try to center and captain Jason O'Halloran, who evaded the Cats defense, slipped through a gap and passed to the pivot on his inside. However, a three-try burst in 10 minutes from the 31st to the 40th minutes showed the Cats' determination. Lock Van den Berg's try came after the lock drove over from second phase and capped a sustained period of pressure. Then flyhalf Pieter O'Neill slipped an inside pass to center Conrad Stoltz, who scored the Cats' third in the 34th minute. O'Neill converted this try as he did the two earlier efforts. The Cats capped an impressive half when they turned over Hurricanes possession in their own half. Tighthead prop Willie Meyer went blind an passed to flanker Andre Venter, who set away Van der Walt. It was the third win in four attempts for South African Super 12 teams on the weekend.
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