Griquas slaughter Lions to secure home Currie Cup Final

MATCH REPORT: Griquas will host this year’s Currie Cup Final after they smashed the Lions 52-12 in their semifinal in Kimberley on Sunday.

The hosts never looked like they were in trouble in the match as they outscored the team from Johannesburg by seven tries to two.

Griquas will face the winners of the other semifinal between the Cheetahs and the Pumas.

It was a sensational start for the home side as they outplayed the Lions with their ability to keep the ball alive.

First it was Lourens Oosthuizen who went over for the first try in the fourth minute before Bobby Alexander finished off some brilliant running rugby to score the second in the 10th minute.

The Lions finally responded in the 18th minute with hooker Armand Combrinck going over for a score after a driving maul.

However, Griquas gained momentum again and after sustained pressure, centre Mnombo Zwelendaba crashed over for his team’s third try in the 29th minute.

The home side scored their fourth try a couple of minutes later when Stefan Coetzee pounced on a ball after a neat grubber by George Whitehead.

Griquas also had the final say of the first half with Tiaan Lange going over for his side’s fifth from a driving maul.

Whitehead landed his fifth conversion in a row and at half-time, it was 35-5 to Griquas.

Griquas continued where they left off in the first half with Oosthuizen breaking away from another maul to score his second try in the 45th minute.

It got worse for the Lions in the 49th minute when Haashim Pead got a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

The Lions added some respectability to their score with a try from Ethan Adams before Jack Hart scored Griquas’ seventh try.

Replacement flyhalf Liam Koen also rubbed salt into the Lions’ wounds with a late penalty goal.

The scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Oosthuizen 2, Alexander, Zwelendaba, Coetzee, Lange, Hart
Cons: Whitehead 6, Koen
Pen: Koen

For Lions:
Tries: Combrink, Adams
Con: Coetzee

Yellow card: Haashim Pead (Lions, 49′ – cynical play, deliberate knock-on)

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Sako Makata, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Carel van der Merwe, 21 Jack Hart, 22 Liam Koen, 23 Connor Mahoney.

Lions: 15 Gilermo Mentoe, 14 Keagan Smith, 13 Ethan Adams, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Latica Nela, 10 Matt Coetzee, 9 Haashim Pead, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Renzo du Plessis, 6 Thando Biyela, 5 Ruan Delport (captain), 4 Siba Qoma, 3 Ruan Swart, 2 Armand Combrinck, 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Mahle Sithole, 17 Siya Dube, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 JD Hattingh, 21 Asad Moos, 22 Exauce Kevani, 23 Luke Cannon.

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Dylen November
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen