Griquas thrash Bulls in statement win
MATCH REPORT: The Bulls’ chances of making the Currie Cup play-offs were dealt a heavy blow after going down 21-42 to Griquas at the Carlton Rugby Club on Sunday.
Griquas ran in six tries to three in a dominant display away from home and moved up to third place on the Currie Cup table at the conclusion of Round Five.
*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!
The Bulls started strongly on attack, making the Griquas work hard on defence early on.
The Bulls won an early penalty and went to the corner before starting to attack, making Griquas tackle multiple times.
The dam wall eventually broke when Stravino Jacobs went over in the fifth minute to dot down. Chamberlain slotted the conversion.
Dylan Maart made something from nothing when he broke the line on the blindside before Griquas played a couple of phases to set Gurswin Wehr up to cut through and score in the 12th minute. Whitehead added the conversion.
Wehr grabbed a double when intercepting a loose ball that Zak Burger threw backwards and dotted down in the 15th minute as Whitehead added the extras.
Griquas won a penalty for offside in front of the sticks but opted to go for the line-out.
The decision paid dividends as they formed a maul and fell just short before going wide, and captain Cebo Dlamini dotted down next to the posts in the 25th minute. Whitehead slotted the formality.
There will be an injury concern for coach Phiwe Nomlomo after Jacobs went off injured in the 32nd minute and was replaced by Liam Koen.
A high tackle against Sintu Manjezi gave Griquas another opportunity to kick at goal, but they opted to go for the line-out option again, seven metres from the Bulls’ line.
Griquas kept things tight on the blindside before shifting the ball and building phases, but Wehr knocked the ball on with four minutes to go in the first half.
The Bulls tried to attack on the blindside, but Aphiwe Dyantyi lost possession, which signalled the end of the first half.
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The Bulls were in trouble moments after the second half started when it was ruled that captain Nama Xaba executed a dangerous tackle on Cameron Hufke.
Xaba was yellow-carded for his indiscretion in the 41st minute as Whitehead went for the attacking line-out outside of the Bulls’ 22 metre area.
Griquas attacked wide and worked it through the hands before finding Wehr, who ran in for his hat-trick in the 42nd minute, which Whitehead converted!
Things went from bad to worse when Cheswill Jooste lost the ball into touch five metres from his own line.
Griquas got the power game on and their maul paid off as Janco Uys dotted down for their second try in five minutes.
Both teams started to make errors, which stopped the free-flowing nature of the first half.
Griquas won a scrum penalty and rolled the dice once more, but the Bulls defended well as Cheswill Jooste got his hands dirty and won a crucial breakdown penalty in the 65th minute.
Griquas put the nail in the coffin when Zane Bester went over for their sixth try of the afternoon and put the result beyond doubt. Whitehead kept his perfect record intact.
A TMO check in the 74th minute ruled that IG Prinsloo made a dangerous clean-out on Manjezi and was shown a red card for his indiscretion.
The Bulls opted for the line-out and used their big forwards to bash the ball up before Junior Pokomela dotted down for their second try of the afternoon in the 75th minute, which Chamberlain converted.
Griquas had one final attacking line-out, but opted to kill the clock with carries until the siren sounded before the Bulls turned it over and went wide.
The Bulls threw everything but the kitchen sink at the visitors and it paid off when Katlego Letebele went over after collecting an offload from PA van Niekerk.
George Whitehead’s restart failed to travel the required 10 metres. The Bulls won the scrum penalty on halfway and kicked to touch.
A final attacking flourish by the hosts had Griquas scrambling on defence, and their defensive efforts paid off when they won a penalty for holding on and denied the Bulls a four-try bonus point.
Scorers:
For the Bulls:
Tries: Jacobs, Pokomela, Letebele
Cons: Chamberlain 3
For Griquas:
Tries: Wehr 3, Dlamini, Uys, Bester
Cons: Whitehead 6
Yellow card: Nama Xaba (Bulls, 41′ – Dangerous play: high tackle)
Red card: IG Prinsloo (Griquas, 74′ – Dangerous play: dangerous clean out to the head)
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Stravino Jacobs, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 Katlego Letebele, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 Zak Burger, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Dylan de Leeuw, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Jean Erasmus, 2 Esethu Mnebelele, 1 Ruan Swart
Replacements: 16 Shaun Schurmann, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Bryan le Roux, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Marco Ferreira, 21 Brooklyn Newman, 22 Liam Koen, 23 PA van Niekerk
Griquas: 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombi Zwelenedaba, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Caleb Abrahams, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Derik Pretorius, 2 Cebo Dlamini (captain), 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Ig Prinsloo, 19 Athenkosi Khethani, 20 Phumzile Maqondwana, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Tom Nel, Connor Mahoney
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison, Hernus Coetzee
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni
