The Blue Bulls and Free State will meet in the 2008 Vodacom Cup Final on May 16 after impressive semifinal victories on Saturday.

The Blue Bulls put on a scintillating second half performance to beat defending champions Griquas 40-20 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, whilst Free State scored a shock 27-22 win over Western Province at Newlands in Cape Town.

The Blue Bulls, who led 10-7 at the break, opened the scoring when Braam Gerber crashed over in the sixth minute, and they extended their lead late in the first half through a penalty by flyhalf Burton Francis.

Griquas scrambled back into the game with a try by centre Lafras Uys which was converted by Rian Viljoen.

That would be the last time that Griquas would threaten the hosts as Francis dictated terms in the second half with his boot and hands.

Griquas troubled the scoreboard first in the second half with a Viljoen penalty but Francis stole the show with two drop-goals, the first a 50 metre strike in the 48th minute and the second another long range strike which bounced off the crossbar in the 57th minute.

In between the drop-goals, Blue Bulls prop Rassie van Vuuren barged over in the 52nd minute to give his team a 20-10 lead before Viljoen struck another penalty in the 56th minute.

The Blue Bulls continued with their dominance with fullback Tiger Mangweni scoring two late tries both from turnovers in the Griquas half. Viljoen was able to grab a consolation try for Griquas in the 74th minute but Francis had the last say with a penalty in the 78th minute.

Western Province and Free State felt each other out for almost 25 minutes before seasoned Free State wing Giscard Pieters eventually opened the scoring when he was put in possession on the WP 22m line. He streaked through a yawning gap in the WP backline to dot down next to the posts for the first try of the match. Jandre Bloem added the conversion to make it 7-0.

Soon afterwards Free State had two golden opportunities to increase their lead but Bloem was off target with two penalty attempts.

Four minutes before the break Province finally brought a sense of urgency to their approach and after fine inter-play by the backs, centre Morgan Newman raced over for a try, with Isma-eel Dollie adding the conversion (7-7).

Within ten minutes of the restart, Bloem atoned for his first-half kicking lapses when he was twice on target with penalties to give Free State a 13-7 lead.

The introduction of Paul Delport at scrumhalf at the expense of Allister Siegelaar provided much-needed fire power to the WP attacks and he was rewarded for his efforts with a 57th minute try which Dollie failed to convert (13-12).

Delport might have had another two minutes after he broke splendidly from his own 22m line but he did not have the legs to reach the Free State tryline and he opted to kick for touch, five metres from the corner flag.

Province did manage to enjoy the lead for the first time in the match when Dollie was on target with a penalty on the hour (15-13).

With more fresh legs running off the WP subs bench the home side's onslaught intensified and replacement lock Nico du Plessis rounded off a fine drive from close range with a try. Substitute flyhalf Ricardo Croy goalled splendidly from close to the touchline to stretch the WP lead to 22-13 in the 65th minute.

In the ensuing play WP continued to hold the upper hand and looked to be cruising to victory when suffered a rude setback eight minutes before the end.

Against the run of play, Free State waged a strong attack down the left flank and Bloem was well up with play to round off the move, as well as add the conversion to narrow the gap 22-20.

There was more to come from Free State four minutes later when prop Ronnie Uys crashed over for a converted try to seal the win.

Scorers:

Blue Bulls:

Tries: Braam Gerber, Rassie van Vuuren, Tiger Mangweni (2).
Conversions: Burton Francis (4).
Penalties: Burton Francis (2).
Drop-goal: Burton Francis (2).

Griquas:

Tries: Lafras Uys, Rian Viljoen.
Conversions: Rian Viljoen (2).
Penalties: Rian Viljoen (2).

Western Province:

Tries: Nico du Plessis, Paul Delport, Morgan Newman.
Conversions: Isma-eel Dollie, Ricardo Croy.
Penalty: Dollie.

Free State:

Tries: Gisgard Pieters, Sias Ebersohn, Ronnie Uys.
Conversions: Jandre Bloem, Ebersohn. Wilton Petersen.
Penalties: Bloem (2).

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