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Golden Lions do enough in Kimberley

The win means the Lions jump to third position in the Currie Cup standings ahead of Saturday's clash between the Free State Cheetahs and Western Province at Newlands. 

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Swys de Bruin's side had a comfortable 24-0 lead going into the final quarter before Griquas tried to stage a late comeback in the final quarter of the game. However, it was too little too late for the home side.

The game's first points only came in the 13th minute when Lions forward Cyle Brink scored a try after Griquas failed to deal with a loose ball in their own 22. Jaco van der Walt added the extra two points from a tight angle. 

The Lions nearly increased their lead moments later when Van der Walt ran in for score only for the TMO to spot an offside infringement earlier in the play.

Griquas had an opportunity to get some points from that penalty, but Andre Swarts pushed his kick wide from distance.

The Lions were then reduced to 14 men in the 20th minute when Harold Vorster was given a yellow card for cynical play inside his own half.

Despite this it was the Lions who were next to score when Albertus Smith ran in for a converted try after a powerful driving maul from the Lions in the Griquas' 22. 

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Griquas continued to struggled to find their feet in the game and they were caught napping in the 36th minute when Lions scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren took a quick tap after being awarded a penalty to sprint 50 metres to score a try in the corner, which Van der Walt converted for a 21-point lead.

The Lions also had the final say in the half when Van der Walt converted a penalty to give the Lions a commanding 24-0 lead at the break.

The first 20 minutes of the second half was a bit of an arm wrestle before Griquas finally broke the deadlock when replacement Kyle Steyn stretched over for a try. George Whitehead converted the score.

Two minutes later Griquas were right back into the game when Johnathan Francke burst through the Lions' defence before passing to Adriaan Coertzen, who weaved his way past a few defenders to score a converted try.

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With 13 minutes remaining, Whitehead stepped up to reduce the deficit to just seven points with a penalty as the Lions began to struggle in defence. 

However, Van der Walt restored the Lions' 10-point lead with a much-need penalty in the 72nd minute.

Rohan Janse van Rensburg then put the game to bed in the 80th minute when he gathered a neat chip-kick from Ashlon Davids to run in for his side's bonus-point try.

Man of the match: Cyle Brink was a handful at the breakdown and in open play, while Ryan Kankowski was immense in the physical stuff. However, the award goes to Golden Lions scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren for his decision making and distribution and for scoring a brilliant try.

The scorers:

For Griquas:

Tries: Coertzen, Steyn

Cons: Whitehead 2

Pen: Whitehead

For Golden Lions:

Tries: Brink, Smith, Jansen van Vuren, Janse van Rensburg

Cons: Van der Walt 4

Pens: Van der Walt 2

Yellow Cards: Harold Vorster (Golden Lions, 20 – cynical play, offside); Albertus Smith (Golden Lions, 59 – cynical play, in from the side)

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Adriaan Coertzen (captain), 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Koch Marx, 10 Andre Swarts, 9 Renier Botha, 8 De Wet Kruger, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Pieter Janse van Vuren, 4 Shaun Mcdonald, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Abraham le Roux, 1 Liam Hendricks.

Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Stephan Kotze, 18 Sintu Manjezi, 19 Kevin Kaba, 20 Eric Zana, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Kyle Steyn.

Golden Lions: 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Albertus Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen (captain).

Replacements: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Sithembiso Sithole, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Fabian Booysen, 21 Branco du Preez, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi.

Referee: Egon Seconds

Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Nico Schmahl

TMO: JJ Wagner

 

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