The Griquas have gone top of the Currie Cup table after recording their third consecutive win of the campaign in an 80-7 demolition of the Boland Cavaliers in Kimberley on Saturday.
After wins over Free State and the Leopards, Griquas had this game wrapped up by half-time after running in five tries and going into the break 33-0 up.
Griquas scored 11 tries in their romp that equalled their biggest ever Currie Cup victory margin of 73 points. Rohan Kitshoff, Barry Geel, and Bjorn Basson all scored a brace of tries while Naas Olivier kicked nine conversions.
The Bolanders got one of the biggest cheers of the day when in the final minute of the game their captain Conrad Burke crossed the Griquas line.
In Saturday's other game the Lions comprehensively beat the Leopards 40-19 at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace.
The bonus point win pushed them into second place behind Griquas while the Leopards remain rooted to the bottom of the log, after their third consecutive loss. Their cause wasn't aided when inside centre Japie Nel was shown a red card in the 60th minute for stamping.
The third round kicked off in Durban on Friday with the Natal Sharks ending the Blue Bulls' unbeaten run thanks to a scrappy 19-13 victory.
At a cold and windy Kings Park it was the Sharks who took an early lead thanks to a drop-goal from the boot of inside centre Riaan Swanepoel. The Bulls endured a nightmare opening, with kicking errors from Francois Brummer costing them vital early position at kick-offs and penalties.
Scrum-half Rory Kockott doubled the home side's lead with a well-judged penalty before Brummer took a chance of his own to register the first points for the Bulls. Kockott was then on hand to restore his side's six point advantage before the game descended in to a war of the boot.
Sharks lock Albert van den Berg was then sent to the bin for an infringement in the build up to a disallowed score for fly-half Monty Dumond just after the half-hour mark.
The Bulls hammered away at the Sharks' defence for the remainder of the first-half but were unable to force an opening. They struck next, but their wait proved to be far longer than they had hoped. Brummer landed his second penalty 21 minutes in to the second-half to reduce the arrears to three, by which time the Sharks had lost Jacques Botes to the bin for an infringement at a maul and seen a drop-goal from No.8 Keegan Daniel hit the crossbar.
Their bad luck began to turn with an inch-perfect penalty from Kockott, before replacement hooker Skipper Badenhorst ensured that the Bulls would head home disappointed by rounding off a fine break with a powerful finish.
Badenhorst became the third Shark to see yellow minutes later as he was guilty of not rolling away, and this time the Bulls were able to capitalise thanks to a converted try from flanker Dewald Potgieter. Potgieter's score secured the bonus point, but it was the Sharks' night.
In Cape Town, the Newlands faithful saw Western Province secure their second big win of this year's tournament by defeating the Free State Cheetahs 19-13.
Looking to bounce back after a difficult loss to the Bulls last weekend, Province took an early lead thanks to the metronomic boot of Willem de Waal. The fly-half's kick was then cancelled out by Cheetahs flanker Petrus Wessels, who struck a kick of his own after five minutes.
De Waal continued his fine kicking form in landing three further first-half penalties, while the visitors saw fly-half Jacques-Louis Potgieter score a penalty but miss two attempts at a drop goal before the half was out.
Potgieter's profligacy was punished by the home side with a try from under-fire wing Sireli Naqelevuki, who answered his critics by crossing for his second try of this year's tournament. With de Waal's conversion giving Province a 13-point lead, the Cheetahs needed to find something special in order to avoid three consecutive defeats after their second-half capitulation to the Lions last weekend.
De Waal's radar finally failed him on 70 minutes and his miss looked to be of little consequence until Cheetahs replacement Richardt Strauss showed some fight and scored the visitors' first try. Potgieter was on hand to convert and bring his side in to bonus-point territory, which was where they remained to stay without a win so far this season.