Brilliant Griquas thump Pumas to secure home semifinal
MATCH REPORT: Griquas have secured a home semifinal after they thumped the Pumas 38-14 at Mbombela Stadium in Round Six of the Currie Cup on Friday.
The visitors outscored the home side by five tries to two during the 80 minutes.
The bonus-point win pushes Griquas five points clear at the top of the standings ahead of the Cheetahs’ clash against Boland on Sunday.
Griquas’ centre combination destroyed the Pumas’ defence in the fifth minute when Mnombo Zwelendaba put Zane Bester into space to sprint away for the opening try.
The home side were reduced to 14 men a few minutes later after Ruwald van der Merwe saw yellow for a head-on-head tackle on Bobby Alexander.
Griquas punished the Pumas not long after that with Tiaan Lange going over for a try after a powerful driving maul.
The visitors extended their lead in the 34th minute after Lourens Oosthuizen broke away from several tackles before going for his team’s third try.
After being on the back foot for most of the first half, the Pumas finally got their first point in the 37th minute with Clinton Swart easing over for a try.
However, Griquas had the final say of the half with George Whitehead adding a penalty goal to his three conversions to give his side a 17-point lead at the break.
The bonus point was secured in the 45th minute after Alexander caught the Pumas’ defence napping with a quick tap before feeding the ball to Gurswin Wehr to run in for the score.
Griquas wing Dylan Maart received a yellow card in the 51st minute for a head-on-head shot and the Pumas stayed in touch with a try from Junior Banda.
However, the Pumas were their own worst enemies when it came to discipline, with Jan-Henning Campher going to the sin bin for a dangerous cleanout. It was eventually upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
To rub salt in the home side’s wounds, Bester scored his second try in the 78th minute.
Man of the match: The award goes to Griquas No.8 Carl Els, who was outstanding with the ball, on defence and at the breakdowns.
The scorers:
For Pumas:
Tries: Swart, Banda
Cons: Swart 2
For Griquas:
Tries: Bester 2, Lange, Oosthuizen, Wehr
Cons: Whitehead 4, Koen
Pen: Whitehead
Twenty-minute red card (upgraded from a yellow): Jan-Henning Campher (Pumas, 72′ – foul play, dangerous cleanout)
Yellow cards: Bobby Alexander (Pumas, 11′- foul play, head-on-head tackle); Dylan Maart (Griquas, 51′ – foul play, head-on-head tackle)
Teams:
Pumas: 15 Jaycee Nel, 14 Darren Adonis, 13 Sango Xamlashe (vice-captain), 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Banie Britz, 10 Nevaldo Fleurs, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Chyle van Zyl, 1 Etienne Janeke.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Zukisa Sali, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 De Wet Marais, 21 Russwill Fredericks, 22 Clinton Swart, 23 Tino Swanepoel.
Griquas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba (captain), 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Derik Pretorius (captain), 4 Lungisi Mbiko, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Janus Venter, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Carel van der Merwe, 20 Dillon Smith, 21 Jack Hart, 22 Liam Koen, 23 Sako Makata.
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
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