Griquas puts huge dent in Province play-off hopes

MATCH REPORT: The unerring boot of George Whitehead and unbounded enthusiasm on defence saw Griquas score their seventh-successive Currie Cup win over Western Province on Friday.

Coming back from a 7-19 deficit (14-19 at half-time) to dominate the second half in Kimberley and outscore the visitors by five tries to four and win 38-29.

Whitehead contributed 13 points – five conversions and a late penalty to seal a bonus-point win that allowed Griquas to move into fourth place on the standings, ahead of a WP that dropped out of the play-off zone.

Another player who was in fine form was Griquas captain Hanru Sirgel – a match-high eight carries, three linebreaks and eight tackles.

* To recap all the drama, CLICK HERE!

The visitors opened the scoring with an early maul and forward charges, Marcel Theunissen touching down. Rookie flyhalf Jurie Matthee added the conversion – 7-0.

Within minutes the home team hit back through Dylan Sjöblom lock, with veteran George Whitehead adding the conversion – 7-all after an explosive opening 10 minutes.

Province dominated the next 20 minutes – tries by Paul de Wet and a second for Theunissen, with a yellow card for a cynical foul by flank Thabo Ndimande, saw WP race into a 19-7 lead.

However, on the stroke of half-time a perfectly-weighted kick allowed centre Jay-Cee Nel score a crucial try. The Whitehead conversion made it 14-19 at the break.

Early in the second half the home team claimed the lead for the first time – slick passing by Griquas resulting in a try for Lubabalo Dobela. Whitehead added the conversion – 21-19.

With a quarter of the match remaining WP reclaimed the lead – a maul and some forward charges allowing Willie Engelbrecht to barge over for the bonus-point try. Matthee’s conversion made it 26-21 for the visitors.

Five minutes later replacement hooker Sean Swart got Griquas’ bonus-point try from a powerful maul. Whitehead reclaimed the lead with the conversion – 28-26.

With less than 10 minutes remaining replacement Sango Xamlashe burst through a gap for a sublime score. Whitehead added the extras – 35-26.

Three minutes from time Matthee slotted a penalty to narrow the gap to 29-35.

However, moments later WP conceded a tackle penalty just outside their own 22, Whitehead slotting it to seal a seventh-consecutive win over Province – 38-29.

The scorers

For Griquas
Tries: Sjöblom, Nel, Dobela, Swart, Xamlashe
Cons: Whitehead 5
Pen: Whitehead

For Western Province
Tries: Theunissen 2, De Wet, Engelbrecht
Cons: Matthee 3
Pen: Matthee

Yellow card: Thabo Ndimande (Griquas, 28 – cynical foul, killing the ball at the tackle)

Teams

Griquas: 15 George Whitehead, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Carl Els, 7 Hanru Sirgel (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius 4 Dylan Sjöblom, 3 Justin Forwood, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Kudzwai Dube.
Replacement: 16 Sean Swart, 17 Cebo Dlamini, 18 Eddie Davids, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Stephan Smit, 21 Reagan Oranje, 22 Eduard Fouche, 23 Sango Xamlashe.

Western Province: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Allister Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Cornel Smit.

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron, Dylen November
TMO: Quinton Immelman