Griquas break their duck

The visitors opened the scoring early in the first half with a penalty, but were sooned overhauled by the home side who went into the break leading 15-3 thanks to two tries by No.8 Carel Greeff. 

The Pumas' cause was also not helped by Faf de Klerk's sin-binning in the 32nd minute, which would of halted any momentum for the Mpumalanga outfit.

Griquas continued where they left off after half-time scoring another ten unanswered points in the first ten minutes of the second half. The Pumas did score two tries of their own late in the game, however, it was Griquas who ended with a flourish to score their fourth try and secure a bonus-point win. 

Justin van Staden and Clinton Swart traded early penalties before Greeff got the game's opening try in the eighth minute which Swart converted. Greeff was rewarded for fine support play when he gathered a pass from Riaan Viljoen, who offloaded after regathering his own up-and-under. 

Griquas' dominance continued as the half progressed and they extended their lead in the 22nd minute when Greeff went over in the corner for his second try, after the ball went through several pairs of hands in the Pumas' 22 in the build-up.

The hosts kept up the pressure for the rest of the half while the Pumas were battling to get going. The visitors suffered a setback when their captain De Klerk received a yellow card for taking Greeff out illegally at a ruck.

Depsite their numerical advantage, Griquas couldn't add to their lead before half-time.

The hosts continued to dominate and added their third try five minutes after the restart when Jansen dotted down but that was the wake-up call which the Pumas needed.

They had a great opportunity to strike back in the 60th minute but, after a superb build-up, De Klerk knocked on with the tryline begging.

The visitors put that disappointment behind when ex Griquas stalwart Schoeman and Speckman dotted down to narrow the hosts' lead to ten points with ten minutes left on the clock. 

Griquas didn't panic though and secured their bonus point try shortly before full-time when Jonathan Janse Van Rensburg barged over from close quarters.

Man of the Match: A number of Griquas players could be singled out for their brilliant performances, however, the award goes to No.8 Carel Greeff with his two tries in the first half laying the foundation for an impressive victory.

Scorers:

For Griquas:

Tries: Greeff 2, Jansen, Janse van Rensburg

Cons: Swart 3

Pens: Swart 2

For Pumas:

Tries: Schoeman, Spekman

Con: Van Staden

Pen: Van Staden

Yellow card: Faf de Klerk (Pumas, 32)

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Ruhan Nel, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Jacquin Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Steph Roberts

Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 19 Jonathan Janse Van Rensburg, 20 Wendal Wehr, 21 Dylan Frylinck, 22 Gouws Prinsloo.

Pumas: 15 Hoffmann Maritz, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Deon Helberg, 11 Rosco Speckman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Francois de Klerk (captain), 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 De-Jay Terblanché, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Corné Fourie.

Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Hennie Skorbinski, 22 Wilmaure Louw.

Referee: Jaco van Heerden

Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha, Pieter Janse van Vuuren