Griffons crowned champions

The Griffons held their nerve in a tense First Division Final against the Falcons at the North West Stadium in Welkom on Friday, to record a 23-21 victory.

The match was thrilling as the teams put their bodies on the line from the outset and kept fighting until the final whistle, which resulted in the lead being exchanged several times.

The victory for the Griffons marked their second First Division title.

The last time they won the competition was in 2008 against the Leopards.

The Falcons showed their intent early on as they worked their way into the home team's red zone within the first minute, but their hopes of earning points were dashed as they conceded a penalty.

Griffons flyhalf Louis Strydom slotted over a penalty for his team shortly after to hand the hosts a 3-0 lead, but this was short-lived as Falcons fullback Jaun Kotze kicked a penalty almost immediately after to level the scores. Kotze kicked another penalty minutes later to push the Falcons into a 6-3 lead after an encouraging attacking spell.

The Griffons hit back with an opportunistic try by scrumhalf Boela Abrahams in the 15th minute, after he picked up the ball from the base of a ruck and opted for a dummy pass before dashing to the tryline for a 10-6 lead.

Falcons flyhalf Clinton Swart, however, reduced the gap to only one point with a long-range drop goal early in the second quarter, which bolstered their confidence, as the team put together phases and backed themselves on attack. This paid off with a try by flank Jacques Verwey in the 30th minute from a rolling maul.

The hosts came close to edging their way into the lead shortly before the break, but a knock-on cost them a potential try. Strydom, however, kicked his second penalty of the half to leave his team trailing 16-13 at the break.

The Griffons had the first say in the second half as they powered their way into the Falcons's 22 and spread the ball wide to wing Norman Nelson, who touched down in the corner.

Strydom had two shots at goal minutes later, but he pushed both attempts wide.

The Falcons, however, forced their way back with a try by scrumhalf Anrich Richter who spotted a gap in the defence and dashed through after the forwards secured a line-out a few metres from the tryline, which nudged them back into a 21-20 lead.

Strydom attempted to force his team back into the lead with two drop goals, but both attempts were unsuccessful. Abrahams then had a shot at goal and his attempt was successful, which nudged them into a 23-21 lead with seven minutes left on the clock.

The Falcons continued to fight until the end in the hope of securing a late victory but the home team shut them out to take the title.

Scorers:

Griffons:

Tries: Abrahams, Nelson

Cons: Strydom 2

Pens: Strydom 2

DG: Abrahams

Falcons:

Tries: Richter, Verwey

Con: Kotze

Pens: Kotze 2

DG: Swart

Teams:

Griffons: 15 Tertius Maarman, 14 Norman Nelson, 13 Vuyo Mbotho, 12 Japie Nel, 11 Aubrey McDonald, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Nicky Steyn (captain), 7 Armandt Koster, 6 Frans Sisita, 5 Johan van der Hoogt, 4 Chris Ehlers, 3 Heinrich Roelfse, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 Gerard Baard.

Replacements: 16 Hannes Snyman, 17 Daniel van der Merwe, 18 Erik le Roux, 19 Martin Sithole, 20 Oshwill Nortje, 21 Franna du Toit, 22 Wynand Pienaar.

Falcons: 15 Jaun Kotze, 14 Dirk Dippenaar, 13 Andrew van Wyk, 12 Willie Odendaal, 11 Coert Cronje, 10 Clinton Ryno Swart, 9 Anrich Richter, 8 Ernst Ladendorf, 7 Jacques Verwey (captain), 6 Juan-Pierre Jonck, 5 Jacques Alberts, 4 Shane Kirkwood, 3 Nico Pretorius, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Bruce Muller.

Replacements: 16 Devlin Hope, 17 Thulani Ngidi, 18 Marlyn Williams, 19 JP Mostert, 20 Jaco Snyman, 21 Kyle Hendricks, 22 Dewald Pretorius.

Referee: Ben Crouse

Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Archie Sehlako

TMO JJ Wagner

Under-21 B Division Final

The EP Kings won the Under-21 B Division Final by defeating SWD 46-3.

The first half was physical as both teams tried to make their presence felt. But the EP Kings made better use of their try-scoring chances as they ran good lines on attack and backed this up with a solid defensive effort, which pushed them into a 20-3 half time lead.

The Port Elizabeth side built on this in the second half as they ran in another four tries. SWD tried hard to add to their score, but mistakes denied them from achieving this.

Scorers:

EP Kings U21:

Tries: Davis, Velleman, Ueckermann, Davids, Petersen, Msutwana

Cons: Davids 5

Pens: Davids 2

SWD U21:

Pen: Eksteen

Under-19 B Division Final

In the Under-19 B Division Final Boland produced a strong second-half performance to overturn a 17-12 half-time deficit against the Falcons for their 42-17 victory.

The first half was hard-fought, but the Falcons dominated possession and territory, which allowed them to edge into the lead.

But Boland bounced back with a bang thanks to their ability to snuff out the gaps in defence and a fantastic attacking display by Warren Williams, who earned his hat-trick. Such was the effectiveness of their performance they scored 30 unanswered points after the break.

Scorers:

Boland U19:

Tries: Carstens, Arendse, Williams 3

Cons: Lubbe 4

Pens: Lubbe 3

Falcons U19:

Tries: Botha, Wessels

Cons: Kotze 2

Pen: Kotze