Griquas continue their dominance over WP
MATCH REPORT: Griquas recorded their second win in this season’s Currie Cup after they thumped Western Province 47-17 in their Round Three encounter in Kimberley on Friday.
The hosts outscored their opponents by seven tries to three in a dominant performance during the 80 minutes.
For WP, it was their third consecutive defeat in the competition.
The result has also pushed their losing streak against Griquas to a whopping eight matches.
WP were camped inside Griquas’ half in the opening 10 minutes, but they couldn’t turn that advantage into points.
Instead, it was the home side who drew first blood in the 12th minute, and it all started with a great kick-pass to wing Dylan Maart.
After collecting the ball, the wing produced the first of several neat offloads before the ball eventually found its way to lock Albert Liebenberg, who ran in for the first try.
Griquas were in again in the 18th minute when George Whitehead put Zane Bester into a gap with an inside pass, and the outside centre weaved his way to the tryline.
Province finally turned some good possession into points in the 21st minute after Jared Africa showed his speed to evade a few defenders before feeding the ball to his outside to replacement Aden da Costa, who ran in for a five-pointer.
The Capetonians were guilty of trying to run too much ball out of their own half, and on one occasion, it almost resulted in a second try for Liebenberg in the 28th minute. It was eventually ruled out for a knock-on in the build-up.
Griquas eventually got their third try in the 33rd minute when scrumhalf Caleb Abrahams dived over the tryline after he caught the WP defence napping around the ruck.
The home side kept up the pressure in the second half, and they had a second try disallowed in the 46th minute due to obstruction.
However, they eventually got their bonus point in the 49th minute when Gurshwin Wehr stole the ball from a ruck before running in for an easy try.
After dominating play, Griquas then gifted WP a try in the 64th minute when the hosts failed to deal with a loose ball in their in-goal area and Scarra Ntubeni was on hand to dot the ball down before it went dead.
However, the home side made up for it when Derik Pretorius powered over for his team’s fifth try in the 68th minute after sustained pressure in the WP’s 22.
WP speedster Shilton van Wyk looked like he was on his way to score his team’s third try after an amazing run. However, Wehr produced one of the best try-saving tackles you will see near his own tryline.
The Capetonians eventually got their third try in the 74th minute with Ezekiel Ngobeni finishing off some enterprising play.
With some tired legs on the field in the closing stages, more space emerged and Griquas scored another two tries via Carl Els and Thomas Bursey before the end.
Man of the match: The award goes to Malembe Mpofu, who was a colossus with ball in hand. He dominated the physical exchanges against the Capetonians.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Liebenberg, Bester, Abrahams, Wehr, Pretorius, Els, Bursey
Cons: Whitehead 6
For Western Province:
Tries: Da Costa, Ntubeni, Ngobeni
Con: Matthee
Teams:
Griquas: 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Gurshwin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Caleb Abrahams, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Carel van der Merwe, 6 Carl Els, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Cebo Dlamini (captain), 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Ig Prinsloo, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Marco de Wit, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Tom Nel, 23 Cameron Hufke.
Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Sako Makata, 13 Justin Geduld, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Jared Africa, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Louw Nel, 7 De Wet Marais, 6 Zain Davids (captain), 5 Gary Porter, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Adam de Waal, 20 Aden da Costa, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Luke Burger, 23 Shilton van Wyk.
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Daniel Canhenga
TMO: Ben Crouse
