Grey Beat Daniël Pienaar
In 2016 Daniël Pienaar had won 24-20.
There was wind in Port Elizabeth, not a rare phenomenon, and Daniël Pienaar played with the wind in the first half and scored first as well.
The first try, five minutes into the match, came from an intercept. Grey were moving the ball to their right when Daniël Pienaar fullback Dylan le Roux intercepted and ran 59 metres straight to the Grey line.
The second try came when Daniël Pienaar were well inside the Grey 22. They went left and centre Dirkie Greeff was the beneficiary of a wayward bounce of the ball to score. 10-0 to Daniël Pienaar. They did not score again till well into the second half and it was Greeff again who scored.
In the meantime Grey did the scoring.
They were put on the attack when wing Uan Tait counterattacked down the left. The ball came back inside, Travis de Bruin made ground and gave inside to flyhalf LJ du Preez whop gave to sturdy hooker Corné Slabbert, who handed off and scored at the posts. LJ du Preez converted. 10-7 after 27 minutes.
From the kick-off, Grey came back on the attack. Du Preez kicked ahead, got the awkwardly bouncing ball and gave to Sihle Njezula on the right. The fullback gave immediately top Kholiwe Konza who plunged over for the try. Grey led 12-10 after 28 minutes.
From a scrum Runaldo Pedro had a long run on the blindside, but Grey's handling let them down and Daniël Pienaar were at Grey's goal-line but were penalised.
Grey were on the attack when they lost the ball backwards. Suddenly Pedro grabbed it and darted ahead to score under the posts. 19-10, which was the half-time score.
Having scored just before half-time, Grey scored just after half-time. They had a scrum deep in Daniël Pienaar territory. Eighthman Bevan Prinsloo picked up at the back of the scrum and he gave to Pedro who skipped over for his second try in just on two playing minutes.
Burly Ryan Adams had a long, strong run down the right and then played inside to Konza who scored his second try, which Du Preez converted. 33-10 after 41 minutes.
Grey at this stage lost a player to the sin bin for punching.
A penalty gave Grey a line-out on the left. They bashed at the line and then went out to the right where Waqar Solaan had an overlap and scored. 38-10 after 51 minutes.
But Daniël Pienaar were not talking it lying down for they then scored two tries. They tapped a penalty, chipped and Greeff scored his second try. 38-15 after 62 minutes.
Back they came. Curtley Deysel raced down the left touchline and played inside to flank Darius Basson who had a clear run to the line. 38-20 with five minutes to play.
Five minutes – time for two more tries.
From the kick-off the ball bobbled about and substitute Joshua Oosthuysen grabbed the ball and sprinted away for the try. 43-20 with three minutes to play.
Not for the first time Daniël Pienaar tapped a penalty and Deysel sprinted over for the try. 43-25 with no more minutes left of a match in which both sides used the ball to run with.
Teams
Grey: 15 Sihle Njezula, 14 Kholiwe Konza, 13 Aya Matroos, 12 Waqar Solaan, 11 Uan Tait, 10 LJ du Preez, 9 Runaldo Pedro, 8 Bevan Prinsloo (captain), 7 Dean van Dyk, 6 Travis de Bruin, 5 Laken Gray, 4 Philip Weyer-Henderson, 3 Warwick Griffin, 2 Corné Slabbert, 1 James Scott
Replacements: 16 John-Douglas Allison, 17 Daniel Wolf, 18 Gerik Rautenbach, 19 Dumisa Ngcivana, 20 Praveen Bosch, 21 Jordon Blewett, 22 Joshua Oosthuysen, 23 Enrique Franks, 24 Ryan Adams
Daniël Pienaar: 15 Dylan le Roux, 14 Cameron van Heerden, 13 Curtley Deysel, 12 Dirkie Greeff, 11 Denver Jacobs, 10 Morney Labuschagne, 9 Sachin Toring, 8 Ryan Oliphant, 7 Darius Basson, 6 Marinus Barnard, 5 Shane White, 4 Henlo Stroebel, 3 Divan Kock, 2 Sithembiso Befile, 1 Jaryd Barnard.
Referee: Phumzile Mbewu (Eastern Province Referees' Society)
**Having these matches live streamed can be excellent, but it seems that it is not good when both commentators back the one side. This commentary was spoilt by obvious bias and constant and not always accurate whining about refereeing decisions or non-decisions. It made for unpleasant watching and sets a poor example..
