Craven Week: Falcons hold off Griquas
The Falcons pulled away from Griquas in the second half to pick up a 34-21 victory at Craven Week in Stellenbosch on Thursday.
The Vaal side outscored their opponents by five tries to two in the end to notch their second victory of the week, while it was a first defeat for Griquas after their victory over the Leopards.
The Falcons made a determined start to the game, forcing the Griquas onto the back foot from the outset. Both teams had early opportunities on the counter-attack, but neither were able to make them count and find the finishing touch.
The opening try came from quick ball on the blindside for the Falcons, with big flank Dylan van der Walt showing both pace and power to go over.
Griquas got on the scoreboard with a penalty from flyhalf Gert Nortje, and they hit the lead soon afterwards when the ball was worked wide to left wing Cameron Huffke who scored in the corner.
That brought a shower of rain which swept across the field, and Van der Walt crossed for his second try from a well-worked line-out move just short of the tryline.
That put the Falcons back in front, but Griquas responded soon afterwards with a second penalty from Nortje which cut the deficit to 14-11.
The see-saw nature of the game continued, as Huffke pounced on a loose ball and raced up the left touchline to get over for his second try and put his team back in front.
The Falcons had the final say in the first half with a penalty from flyhalf Xander Crause, and they went into half-time trailing 18-17.
The Vaal side continued to press at the start of the second half and camped in Griquas territory until lock Damon Karelse broke the defensive line to score a try which put them 24-18 ahead.
Griquas hit back with a drop-goal from Nortje after he had hit the upright with a penalty attempt, but the Falcons responded with their fourth try as Crause forced his way over to stretch their lead out to 29-21.
They added to that at the death as right wing Irvin Ali was put over for their fifth try which put the seal on a dominant second half performance.
Man of the match: Dylan van der Walt
The scorers:
For Falcons:
Tries: Van der Walt 2, Karelse, Crause, Ali
Cons: Crause 3
Pen: Crause
For Griquas:
Tries: Huffke 2
Con: Nortje
Pens: Nortje 2
DG: Nortje
Teams:
Falcons: 15 Francois Erasmus, 14 Irvin Ali, 13 Marco Niemandt, 12 Erich Cronje, 11 Romano Jonkerman, 10 Xander Crause, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Edwin Jansen, 7 Dylan Van der Walt, 6 Simanqaliso Moalusi, 5 Hendre Stassen (captain), 4 Damon Karelse, 3 Andre van der Merwe, 2 Nico Peyper, 1 Brendan Strydom.
Replacements: 16 Tinus Gruindelingh, 17 Phillip Jacobs, 18 Rouxbann Baumann, 19 Thokozani Skhosana, 20 Timothy Van Dieman, 21 Franklin Wagner, 22 Ntshepe Kokong.
Griquas: 15 Keaton Gordon, 14 Jacques Beukes, 13 Sergio Kasper, 12 Daniello Huyster, 11 Cameron Huffke, 10 Gert Nortje, 9 Heinrich Loxton, 8 Johan Joubert, 7 Rian Kotze, 6 Janco Cloete, 5 Bernard Jansen, 4 Corne van der Merwe, 3 Simbulele Mnweba, 2 Anton van Romburgh, 1 Abram Venter.
Replacements: 16 Phemelo Seleke, 17 Wilhelm Rosenstrauch, 18 Stefan Smit, 19 Lihan Viljoen, 20 JP Roets, 21 Justin Pietersen, 22 De-An Ackermann.
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Sindile Ngcese
TMO: Archie Sehlako
