Griquas deal hammer blow to Cheetahs' play-off hopes

MATCH REPORT: The Griquas have dealt the Cheetahs’ playoffs hope a hammer blow in their 44-31 bonus-point win in Kimberley in the Currie Cup.

The home side were the better side across the 80-minute contest, with a clinical performance to cause one of the season’s upsets.

The match started off at a frantic pace – with three tries scored within the first 10 minutes.

The Cheetahs opened the scoring as soon as the first minute when Kruger put Kasende into space off a poor clearance kick by Thomas Bursey that saw the wing dotting down in the corner which Ethan Wentzel converted.

The home side responded three minutes later with a great attacking play off the lineout inside the Cheetahs’ half.

Flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela got a long pass away to Mahoney who cut back inside and got the offload away to Bester who got the home side on the board, with Dobela being timed out with the conversion attempt.

The Griquas took the lead in the ninth minute when off a lineout when it seemed nothing is on.

Marco de Witt found himself in space as the passes stuck through multiple pairs of hands and Dobela took initiative to kick the ball ahead and it sat up for hooker Delport who went onto the corner for the try.

The Cheetahs had a penalty in the 14th minute for holding on which Ethan Wentzel slotted to level matters at 10-10.

The home side reclaimed the lead when Dylan Sjoblom charged Kruger’s clearance kick down and almost went in to score himself.

The Griquas had a penalty for offside which they took the quick tap from and it paid off when Dobela kicked the ball ahead for himself and regathered it inside the in-goal area to dot down for the try.

Griquas almost had another scoring opportunity when Jasper kicked the ball out on the full and the Griquas got a penalty with the rolling maul and opted to go for the corner but it was successfully defended by Juandré Rudolph to stop the home side.

The Cheetahs also had an opportunity to strike back when they lost a lineout inside the Griquas 22 towards the back end of the first half.

Griquas could have gone into half time with a bigger lead but despite his player of the match performance, Dobela missed a few kicks including a penalty off a scrum late in the first half.

The second half started perfectly for the Griquas when Daniel Kasende knocked the ball on – gifting the Griquas an attacking scrum from which they earned a penalty which Dobela slotted to extend his side’s lead to 10 points.

Things went from back to worse when flyhalf Ethan Wentzel was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on when the Griquas were hot on the attack.

The Griquas couldn’t capitalise on the error when they went for the lineout inside the Cheetahs’ 22 but knocked the ball on.

The Cheetahs were denied a try after Litha Nkula put Daniel Kasende into space who ran a good 20-odd metres into the Griquas 22 before being stopped short.

The Cheetahs bashed away at the line but the home side were brave on defence when Robert Hunt was held-up over the line.

The Griquas extended their lead in the when a cross kick by Dobela found Dylan Maart who tapped the ball back into the hands of Marco de Witt who dotted down in the corner.

Moments later after the restart – the home side ran it back immediately and Dylan Maart found himself in some space.

De Witt got the pass and went past a couple of would-be defenders and was stopped just short.

Play was stopped as Aidon Davis was yellow carded for diving on a player.

The Griquas went to the line and set their rolling maul which saw Gustav du Rand barge over for the score.

After a patient build-up on attack, Thomas Bursey found himself in a gap and got his pass away to Mahoney for another Griquas score.

The Cheetahs’ struck back after a comedy of errors by the home side saw the ball kicked ahead by Ethan Wentzel, with the flyhalf chasing his own kick to dot down and cut the lead for the home side.

After the restart, Wentzel’s clearance kick wasn’t fielded and the bounce landed perfectly for Alexander who got his pass to Mahoney who gave it back to Alexander who dotted it down in the 65th minute.

The Cheetahs had a scrum after the Griquas almost scored but Alexander knocked the ball on.

They attacked from 95-metres out with Hartzenberg finding replacement Annies who kicked the ball forward and Hartzenberg got the ball and gave the short pass to Mgijima who went in for the visitors.

The Cheetahs were almost in for another score after Annies kicked the ball ahead and the Cheetahs were stopped just short.

Bobby Alexander was yellow carded for cynical offside okay and the Cheetahs opted for the quick tap but Mgijima was held up to deny the Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs had another opportunity when off the goal-line-dropout, Juandre Rudolph chipped the ball ahead but was taken out which gifted the Cheetahs a penalty.

The Cheetahs went to the corner and had another penalty for a side entry by Eddie Davids.

The visitors rolled the dice again and under another penalty advantage switched the play to the blindside when Wentzel set Hartzenberg up for the much needed bonus-point try in the corner.

Scorers:

For the Griquas:
Tries: Bester, Delport, Dobela, De Witt, Du Rand, Mahoney, Alexander
Cons: Dobela, Bursey, Robinson
Pen: Dobela

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Kasende, Wentzel, Mgijima, Hartzenberg
Cons: Wentzel 4
Pen: Wentzel

Yellow cards: Ethan Wentzel (Cheetahs, Min 46 – deliberate knock on), Aidon Davis ( Cheetahs, Min 66 – Cynical play- Diving on a player after a linebreak), Bobby Alexander (Griquas, Min 77 – Cynical offside).

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Sako Makata, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Dandré Delport, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Jac van der Walt, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 Zinedine Robinson, 23 Jay-Cee Nel.

Cheetahs: 15 Litha Nkula, 14 Cohen Jasper, 13 Munier Hartzenberg, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Daniel Kasende, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Jeandrè Rudolph, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Corne Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Friedle Olivier, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Michael Annies.

Referee: AJ Jacobs
TMO: Aimee Barrett-Theron