Griquas outplay Cheetahs in Kimberley
CURRIE CUP REPORT: Griquas climbed off the bottom of the Currie Cup standings with a 31-10 win over the Cheetahs in Kimberley on Saturday.
The home side secured the bonus point with four tries, while the Cheetahs could only cross the whitewash once during the 80 minutes.
It was a morale-boosting win for Griquas after their 16-30 defeat to the Sharks at the same venue in Round One.
With 13 players making their Currie Cup debut for the Bloemfontein team due to COVID cases and injuries, including Springbok flank Jacques Potgieter, who featured prominently, teething problems were evident, particularly, a lack of finishing countless opportunities they created.
Hawies Fourie’s charges laid down the gauntlet with big hits in the opening five minutes but Griquas would respond in kind. The hosts were outstanding on defence, even when they were down to 14 men when Hanru Sirgel was yellow carded for killing the ball in the red zone in the 26th minute, conceding just three points in the first half.
The Cheetahs stamped their authority on the line-outs from the onset with Rynier Bernardo snatching Janco Uys’ throw-in to set the tone. The Free Staters dominated at scrum time as well, winning three penalties in the first half alone, but were unable to capitalise.
It remained scoreless after an absorbing opening quarter, in which Tian Meyer limped off and Griquas captain Stefan Ungerer copped a big hit, with both teams turning down a kickable penalty in search of seven points.
The Peacock Blues’ bravado nearly backfired spectacularly as the visitors won a turnover from the driving maul and almost scored at the other end after a surging run by Duncan Saal.
A ruck infringement saw Griquas’ George Whitehead line up a long kick at goal in the 22nd minute, but it was well wide. A barnstorming run by Ewald van der Westhuizen then had the Cheetahs in all sorts of trouble but Clayton Blommetjies saved the day by winning a vital breakdown penalty.
With Sirgel in the sin bin, a power scrum right in front of the uprights saw the Cheetahs finally open the scoring through a Ruan Pienaar penalty goal in the 28th minute. However, Griquas were then rewarded for their gutsy defence when end-to-end play resulted in the opening try.
Andre Swarts provided the spark with a good inside pass to the ever-elusive Eduan Keyter, who drew the final man and sent Masixole Banda over. Whitehead kicked the conversion to give the hosts a hard-fought 7-3 lead at half-time despite having had just 37 percent possession.
Coming out firing in the second half, the Cheetahs quickly regained the lead with Gideon van Wyk having a clear run-in from a ruck after Griquas had been stretched by good phase play. Pienaar’s conversion made it 10-7.
The lead changed hands for the last time in the 53rd minute courtesy of a piece of individual brilliance by Jay-Cee Nel, who beat three defenders with a rampaging run from a line-out. Whitehead’s conversion made it 14-10.
The Cheetahs remained calm and regained momentum on attack, leading to a number of penalties, but again, opting not to take the points proved costly with Griquas forcing the line-out drive into touch and exiting from there.
Scott Mathie’s men, in turn, grabbed their opportunity through their energetic replacement forwards, one of whom, Mzwanele Zito, made his presence felt as he powered over for a converted try from a pick and go.
With the home team now in complete control, Whitehead stretched the lead to 24-10 before man of the match Keyter pounced with an intercept try in the 73rd minute to wrap up a bonus-point win.
Man of the match: The award goes to Griquas wing Eduan Keyter, who played a role in one try in the first half and he scored one himself with an intercept in the second half. He broke through the Cheetahs’ defence on several occasions.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Banda, Nel, Zito, Keyter
Cons: Whitehead 4
Pen: Whitehead
For Cheetahs:
Try: Van Wyk
Con: Pienaar
Pen: Pienaar
Yellow card: Hanru Sirgel (Griquas, 27 – cynical play)
Griquas: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer (captain), 8 Hanru Sirgel, 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Jeandre Leonard, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Andrew Beerwinkel.
Replacements: 16 HJ Luus, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Janu Botha, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Henco Beukes, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Theo Boshoff, 23 Ederies Arendse
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Tian Meyer, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Gideon van Wyk, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Jean Droste, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Victor Sekekete, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Wilmar Arnoldi, 1 Cameron Dawson.
Replacements: 16 Janus Venter, 17 Aluluthu Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Reinier Viljoen, 20 Luan Potgieter, 21 Mihlali Mosi, 22 David Brits, 23 Cohen Jasper.
Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni
