Griquas humble Western Province, again

MATCH REPORT: Griquas have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as they claimed another scalp against Western Province by 37-29 in the Currie Cup in Kimberley.

There was plenty of action in the first 20 minutes of the clash, with Griquas having the majority of possession and territory.

The home side eventually broke the deadlock in the 15th minute when Zinedine Robinson slotted a penalty after Western Province got penalised for being offside after a knock on.

It took only three minutes after their first points when Griquas attacked off a lineout and the bounce went in favour off a kick for the home side when Dylan Maart dotted down for the Griquas to go 10-0 up.

In the same passage of play, Luke Burger tackled a player off the ball and it was deemed cynical for which he was yellow carded in the 17th minute.

Western Province had plenty of scoring opportunities off set piece, but their lineout misfired on four occasions in the first half which broke their momentum.

Western Province earned a penalty off some good attacking play as Griquas went off their feet at the breakdown – which earned Western Province a penalty which Mathee slotted to get the visitors on the board.

Western Province squandered another scoring opportunity when Leon Lyons were penalised for a dangerous tackle and Western Province opted for an attacking lineout, but Griquas redeemed themselves to win a breakdown penalty to get themselves out of jail.

That moment proved to be costly for the visitors when the hosts attacked off the lineout that stemmed from the breakdown penalty and Mahoney raced down the touchline before being tackled into touch.

Lineout issues creeped in again when Dylan Sjobloem stole the lineout ball and ran in straight to give the hosts a 17-3 lead in the 27th minute following the conversion by Zinedine Robinson who was a late inclusion in the match for Lubabalo Dobela.

Western Province earned a penalty for a late tackle and tucked arm by Thabo Ndimande, who was yellow carded for his indiscretion.

They opted for the lineout had a perfect driving maul when Marcel Theunissen crashed over for an unconverted try.

Western Province earned a penalty at the breakdown after the restart which they opted to go for the lineout.

They played the ball to Suleiman Hartzenberg who broke through the centre and got his pass away to captain Daniel du Plessis on his outside for the try in the 35th minute to make it a two point ball game.

Griquas struck back when Dylan Maart made a break on the wing and got his pass away to Bursey who got the hosts into the Western Province 22.

Bursey was brought down in a tackle but then Mathee dived onto him which saw the flyhalf yellow carded in the 39th minute, of which Griquas opted to take the points for a five point lead heading into the break.

Western Province looked much better in the second-half when they brought their bench on, especially in the scrums with the likes lf Steven Kitshoff making his presence felt.

Griquas attacked but then a forward pass gifted Western Province a scrum off which they earned a penalty.

The visitors once again couldn’t let the lineout count in the red-zone when they were penalised for obstruction in the lineout.

Western Province under penalty advantage in the 52nd minute saw Mathee make up for his earlier yellow card when he nailed a pin-point cross kick to Du Plessis who bagged a brace, beating Makata on the outside.

Griquas had an attacking scrum after Mathee kicked the ball over the dead-ball-line.

They hosts attacked with Mahoney slicing through a gap and their handling got them on the front foot as Western Province were penalised for going off their feet at the breakdown.

They took the quick tap penalty and it paid off in the 57th minute when captain Marco de Witt barged over for the try to reclaim the lead (27-22).

Western Province had a scrum and earned a free kick which was taken quickly by Stefan Ungerer and he got it away to Mathee who got his offload away in the tackle to Damian Markus who sliced into the space to score the try in the 68th minute.

Griquas took a quick tap penalty which Western Province defended well and forced the error to earn the scrum off which they earned a penalty from in the 70th minute.

Western Province lost yet another lineout and Griquas moved the ball through the hands quickly when Mahoney set Maart up for the try, but then after a TMO intervention the pass by Mahoney was deemed to be forward.

Western Province earned a penalty off the scrum and could have closed the game out when they opted to go for an attacking lineout inside the Griquas 22.

The lineout was lost yet again and it proved to be the self destruction button as Griquas set up an attacking play from their lineout when Zwelendaba got his offload away to Bester who gave it to Alexander who went in for the winning try.

Western Province reclaimed the restart but Griquas turned it over and earned a penalty which Robinson slotted after the hooter sounded for a perfect evening, hitting seven out of seven from the kicking tee.

Scorers

For Griquas:
Tries: Maart, Sjoblom, De Witt, Alexander
Cons: Robinson 4
Pens: Robinson 3

For Western Province:
Tries: Theunissen, Markus, Du Plessis 2
Cons: Mathee 3
Pen: Mathee

Yellow cards: Luke Burger (17′- Western Province: cynical play – early tackle on attacking chaser after kick), Thabo Ndimande (31′ – Griquas: no arms tackle off the ball), Jurie Mathee (38′ – Western Province: cynical – diving on a player after tackle off linebreak).

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Sako Makata, 10 Zinedine Robinson, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Dandre Delport, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 Tylor Sefoor, 23 Mnombo Zwelendaba.

Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Louw Nel, 7 Dave Ewers, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Wandisile Simelane, 23 Damian Markus.

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Griffin Colby