Acer Durban Collegians narrowly beat 2008 Murray Cup champions Thanda Zululand Rhinos 25-23 in a pulsating House of Paint Premier Division curtain raiser to the Super 14 match between the visiting Crusaders outfit from Christchurch and the Sharks at The Absa Stadium Durban on Saturday.

Rhinos looked particularly good in the first half and although trailing 13-10 at the break still looked in with a chance to take the honours. Collegians however definitely had the upper hand after the sides changed halves and looked a lot better of the second session, finishing the game a lot stronger to take home the all important log points. The Zululand side at the end of it all did show that they are certainly not going to be easy pushovers this year and showed just why they won the Murray Cup for the first time in their 90th anniversary last season.

In the other games Jonsson Crusaders beat ChemSpec Jaguars 27-7 out at their Ranleigh Crescent home grounds in Durban North securing the vital bonus point for good measure. Envirosan Old Boys had a relatively comfortable home ground victory over their visitors from the Bluff Durban Harlequins Airtron Coastal, winning the game 51-5.

House of Paint College Rovers also sailed to an easy win hammering the brave students from Maritzburg Varsity 53-3 with wing Braden Ferreira crossing for three of their eight tries. The others went to centre Olaf Eggers, the other wing Keegan Scott, Anton Verster, Nick Jackson and prop ‘Snare’ Sinelweci. Flyhalf Jerome Pretorious kicked five conversions and a penalty to conclude their scoring.

In the First Division games, Amanzimtoti had a narrow away win beating South Coast Warriors 16-10 in Port Shepstone and sit comfortably on top of the South Section log table. Durban University edged out Maritzburg Waratahs 24-22 and Hillcrest ran riot over Wentworth beating the Bluff side 50-0. In the remaining game Ballito Dolphins overran Kokstad with a runaway 44-0 victory on their North Coast home grounds.

In the North Section matches Vryheid literally destroyed Sentraal from Dundee thumping them 150-8 while Newcastle Highlanders beat Ladysmith 53-0. Pongola beat the Piet Retief second stringers 44-10 and Utrecht went down 15-5 to Volksrust.

In the Under 20 ‘A’ Division, the 2008 Frank Norris champions Rovers beat Midlands 45-10 while Old Boys accounted for Quins beating them 30-17 and Durban Collegians overcame Empangeni with a 35-18 victory.

In the Third Division Walker Cup competition, title-holders Rovers remained unbeaten after winning their game 52-0 against Kwantu. Durban Collegians went down 13-9 to Pinetown and Crusaders beat Queensburgh 26-0

Rovers will meet their neighbours Durban Collegians on Saturday, which will undoubtedly be the pick of the weekend's third round fixtures. The other big game that will also hold a lot of interest is the clash of the Durban North neighbours at Crusaders home grounds where they will be entertaining Old Boys. Zululand Rhinos are at home to Maritzburg Varsity and out on the Bluff, Harlequins host Jaguars.

- Jos Robson - The Mercury