Griquas edge Cheetahs in thriller to go top of Currie Cup

MATCH REPORT: The defending champions Griquas were a well-oiled machine as they claimed a dramatic win over the Cheetahs in the Currie Cup with a narrow 24-21 victory in Kimberley on Friday evening.

The losing bonuspoint was not enough to keep the Cheetahs at the top of the standings as the Griquas leepfrogged all to move into the first position ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action.

The Cheetahs quickly advanced to inside the Griquas 22 with some good ball possession and after attacking the line relentlessly.

They were only a few metres out and finally scored through Simon Miller. Cohen Jasper kicked the conversion for the visitors to take an early lead.

From the kick-off the Peacock blues managed to get into the visitor’s half of the field, but lost possession and Ethan Wentzel kicked a relieving touch finder, setting up a line-out on the middle line.

The Cheetahs attacked, Wentzel kicked for the corner and Prince Nkabinde almost got over in the corner, just running out of space.

After an aerial battle; George Whitehead found a wonderful touch finder close to the Cheetahs 10m area and the Griquas were attacking seven meters out from the Cheetahs try-line looking to bounce back after conceding.

After some relentless phases, Tiaan Lange crashed his way over the try-line for the Griquas first try of the day and George Whitehead added the extras to bring the score to 7-7.

The Cheetahs got right back to attack mode, playing phase after phase in the red zone.

Captain Victor Sekekete got close to the line as they were peppering the defence of the Griquas.

And then Henry Immelman lost the ball in the in-goal area.

After 25 minutes Springbok Faf de Klerk was introduced to the game and he made an immediate impact, but the Griquas were resilient and struck back with intent.

It was a determined effort and ended with Carl Els dotting down. The conversion was wide but the home side took the lead six minutes before halftime.

From the kick-off the momentum as on the side of the visitors, with De Klerk playing a major role in getting them into the red zone.

However, Griquas turned over possession and they raced up field. It ended in a dramatic diving try by Bobby Alexander, stretching their lead by 10 points to 17-7.

Griquas were full of running and in the helter skelter defence of the Cheetahs, De Klerk won himself a yellow card.

At halftime the home side was comfortably ahead 17-7.

The second half started with some end-to-end play; the Cheetahs were attacking close to the Griquas 22m line looking to narrow this deficit.

The Griquas were playing some attacking rugby with magical hands as they were attacking close to the Cheetahs 22m area.

After a dominant Griquas scrum the Cheetahs, pack showed their own strength and won a scrum penalty. The Cheetahs were attacking close to the Griquas 22m area looking to narrow this deficit.

Finally, Marco Janse van Rensburg got over after a strong driving maul by the Cheetahs. Jasper added the extras to close the gap to 14-17 and the visitors were back in the game.

Following a massive scrum by the Griquas, Whitehead sent the ball into the corner, setting up another attacking opportunity.

The ball was secured in the lineout, and they started another maul drive. Lange grabbed his second try and Whitehead converted, stretching their lead to 24-14.

De Klerk showed all his class and experience as he left the ball in the air for Prince Nkabinde who ran a world class line to cut through the Griquas defensive line to narrow this deficit yet again.

With three minutes left on the clock the home side was leading by a narrow margin of 24-21, and the Cheetahs were attacking from all angles.

With seconds left, the Cheetahs threw everything at the Griquas.

With a penalty in hand, the Cheetahs opted to kick for corner after the hooter went for fulltime.

De Klerk put boot to ball, sending the ball to the corner, but they were called back for a penalty.

Another lineout ensued; the time was 83 minutes of play.

The Griquas stole the ball in the air and the Griquas did it.

The Peacock blues dominated the scrums and that is an area the Cheetahs will work on going further into the competition.

Scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Lange 2, Els, Alexander
Cons: Whitehead 2

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Miller, Janse van Rensburg, Nkabinde
Cons: Jasper 3

Yellow card: Faf de Klerk (Cheetahs – 38; conceding a penalty in the red zone); Juan Venter (74’ )

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Connor Mahoney, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Lungisi Mbiko, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Janus Venter (Griquas debut), 17 Corne Lavagna, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Carel van der Merwe, 20 Phumzile Maqondwana, 21 Jack Hart (Currie Cup debut), 22 Damian Markus, 23 Sako Makata.

Cheetahs: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Cohen Jasper, 13 Carel Jan Coetzee, 12 Jooste Nel, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Juan Venter, 6 Ramon Uys, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Simon Miller, 3 Frankie Dos Reis, 2 Juan Smal, 1 Tebogo Nkosi.
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Tielman Niewoudt, 18 Ben Pitout, 19 Daniel Maartens, 20 Sisonke Vumazonke, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Michael Annies

Referee: Christopher Allison