Griquas win 14-try feast in Kimberley

MATCH REPORT: Griquas got their Currie Cup campaign back on track with a 48-39 win over Boland in Kimberley on Sunday.

In a match where defence was optional, with 69 missed tackles, the home team outscored the visitors by eight tries to six.

The match also produced two significant periods – Boland turning a nine-point (10-19) deficit after 30 minutes into a 34-19 half-time lead with a four-try blitz, while Griquas scored three unanswered tries early in the second half to reclaim the lead (36-34).

Although Boland briefly reclaimed the lead with a try, Griquas finished two tries to seal the win.

Boland captain Marlyn Williams admitted he was “gutted” to have given up the handy lead they had built up at half-time.

“We can’t afford to make the number of mistake we did and expect to win,” he said of the nine turnovers, 15 penalties and 52 missed tackles.

Griquas dominated the scrums and mauls, winning several penalties from the set pieces, but it was their sloppiness (18 turnovers and 17 missed tackles) that allowed the visitors to stay in the game.

In contrast, Boland relied heavily on their unstructured and opportunistic play to get their points on the board.

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The opening stages involved a contest for territorial dominance, with a lot of kicking and solid defence.

It was the home team that finally got the scoreboard ticking, Dylan Maart finishing off a counter that was started by fellow wing Gurshwin Wehr inside his 22. The conversion attempt by George Whitehead was wide of the mark – 5-0.

The visitors replied with a sublime individual effort by centre Lunathi Nxele, who weaved his way through the scrambling Griquas defence. Fullback James Tedder slotted the conversion for a 7-5 lead after 12 minutes.

In the 15th minute Boland lost flank Gift Dlamini with a serious-looking leg injury that stopped the game for a while to provide him with the necessary medical assistance.

Boland then launched a powerful maul, with flank Lourens Oosthuizen getting the armchair ride. This time Whitehead was on target with the conversion, 12-7 after 18 minutes.

The restart resulted in a penalty for Boland, with Tedder slotting the kick to narrow the gap to two points, 10-12.

Griquas enjoyed a period of territorial dominance, with their scrum also winning them a couple of penalties.

From a dominant scum Griquas launched a backline move, with left wing Gurshwin Wehr stepping inside a couple of defenders and over for his team’s third try. Whitehead’s conversion made it a nine-point (19-10) game on the half-hour mark.

Boland again responded by making Griquas pay for a poor restart, a ball bouncing off a home team player’s head and David Brits collecting for the visitors’ second try. Tedder was wide of the mark with his conversion attempt, 15-19.

From the restart Griquas conceded a penalty and Boland attacked from the resulting line-out, left wing Donavan Don coming on the inside and beating the cover defence for the visitors’ third try. Tedder ran out of time with his conversion attempt, 20-19.

Marcqiewn Titus used his pace to score from a turnover after the restart for the bonus-point try, with Tedder making no mistake with this conversion for a 27-19 lead after 38 minutes.

Donavan Don then intercepted a stray pass from Gurshwin Wehr to race clear for a fifth try. Tedder added the conversion to make it 34-19 at the half-time break.

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The home team opened the scoring in the second half, scrumhalf Caleb Abrahams sniping overt after a scrum penalty got them into the Boland 22. Whitehead failed with the conversion attempt, 24-34.

It was Abrahams who scored the next try, Wehr stepping the opposition and a stray pass bouncing kindly for Griquas. Whitehead made it a three-point (31-34) game with the conversion.

Griquas continued their blitz, with Wehr finishing off another great team try. Whitehead was wide of the mark with the conversion, but the home team had reclaimed the lead, 36-34.

However, on the hour mark Boland’s left wing Donavan Don picked up a stray pass and sprinted more than 50 metres for his hat-trick try. Tedder hit the upright with the conversion attempt, 39-36 to the visitors.

Griquas’ powerful maul came back into play, with replacement hooker Tiaan Lange getting the armchair ride this time. White head was wide of the target with his conversion, but his team was back in the lead, 41-29.

It required TMO intervention to rule out a Dylan Maart attempted try, with a trailing foot touching the touchline as he was diving for the tryline, but it was replacement Derik Pretorius that barged over after a series of forward raids. The Whitehead conversion made it a two-score match, 48-39.

Boland threw everything into attack, but they left Kimberley with a solitary try-scoring bonus point.

Man of the match: Loose forwards Sibusiso Sangweni and Khwezi Mafu were Boland’s most productive players, while wing Donavan Don weighed in with a hat-trick of tries. Dylan Maart, Mnombo Zwelendaba and Gurshwin Wehr were lethal on attack, but also contributed significantly to Griquas’s high number of turnovers. My award goes to Griquas flank Carl Els, who made a match-high 15 carries, for 40-odd metres gained and 10 tackles to go with the mountain of work he did at the breakdown.

The scorers

For Griquas
Tries: Maart, Oosthuizen, Wehr 2, Abrahams 2, Lange, Pretorius
Cons: Whitehead 4

For Boland Cavaliers
Tries: Nxele, Brits, Don 3, Titus
Cons: Tedder 3
Pen: Tedder

Teams

Griquas: 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Gurshwin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Caleb Abrahams, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Carl Els, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Cebo Dlamini, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Ig Prinsloo, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Marco de Wit, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Tom Nel, 23 Cameron Hufke.

Boland Cavaliers: 15 James Tedder, 14 Marcqiewn Titus, 13 David Brits, 12 Lunathi Nxele, 11 Donavan Don, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Sibusiso Sangweni, 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Gift Dlamini, 5 Marlyn Williams (captain), 4 Michael Benadie, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Sidney Tobias, 1 Wayrin Losper.
Replacements: 16 HP van Schoor, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Ameer Hendricks, 20 Thurlow Marsh, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Juan Mostert, 23 Xavier Mitchell.

Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen, Daniel Canhenga
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni

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