Griquas unable to get revenge against Pumas

CURRIE CUP REPORT: The Pumas made it three wins from three matches in this season’s Currie Cup after they beat Griquas 28-13 in a tense clash at the Mbombela Stadium on Friday.

The match was a repeat of last year’s Currie Cup Final and Griquas looked determined to get revenge over the home side.

However, Jimmy Stonehouse’s side had too much firepower in the end.

After sustained pressure inside the Pumas’ half, Griquas thought they opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Derik Pretorius stretched over for a try. However, the TMO ruled that there was a double movement on his way to the tryline and the Pumas were given a penalty.

The Pumas then thought they were in when Lundi Msenge kicked a loose ball ahead and gathered and scored after Griquas flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela surprisingly couldn’t gather the ball in his own half after a Devon Williams’ kick. The TMO took a good look at it and ruled that Msenge was in front of the kicker at the start of the play.

The first points eventually came in the 35th minute when Diego Appollis showed how quick he is by gathering the ball from a kick by Williams before putting the ball on his own boot with Etienne Taljaard racing away on his inside to gather the ball and running in for the try. Flyhalf Tinus de Beer added the extra two points with the conversion.

Griquas had the final say in the first half with a penalty kick from Lubabalo Dobela and at half-time, it was 7-3 to the Pumas.

Griquas were only one point behind two minutes into the second half when Dobela added another three points with a penalty.

The visitors were then given a boost in the 54th minute when the Pumas were reduced to 14 men after De Beer got a yellow card for a tip tackle.

However, the Pumas scored next with Brandon Thomson knocking over a penalty in the 61st minute.

That lead was extended to seven points when De Beer returned to the field to convert another penalty into three points in the 67th minute.

The Pumas then put some breathing space between themselves and Griquas when De Beer sent the ball over the visitors’ defence with a chip kick before Thomson gathered and ran in for his team’s second try. De Beer added the two points with the conversion.

However, the visitors stayed in the fight and they were next to score when No.8 Carl Els crashed over the Pumas’ tryline from close range. Dobela made it a seven-point game again with the conversion.

Griquas then let themselves down in the middle of the park by giving away a scrum penalty and De Beer was on target with a long-range kick.

The Pumas wrapped up the game with Andre Fouche finishing off an excellent team try at the end.

Man of the match: No.8 Carl Els was a powerhouse for Griquas, while Rosko Specman gave the Pumas a few problems when he had ball in hand. For the Pumas, wing Etienne Taljaard was a livewire out wide and he scored his team’s first try. Flank Francois Kleinhans was also strong with ball in hand. However, the award goes to Pumas’ No.6 Andre Fouché, who had a good all-round game and scored an excellent try at the death.

The scorers:

For Pumas:
Tries: Taljaard, Thomson, Fouche
Cons: De Beer 2
Pens: Thomson, De Beer 2

For Griquas:
Try: Els
Con: Dobela
Pens: Dobela 2

Yellow card: Tinus de Beer (Pumas, 54 – foul play, tip tackle)

Teams:

Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Etienne Taljaard, 13 Diego Appollis, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Lundi Msenge, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Giovan Snyman, 8 Kwanda Dimaza, 7 Francois Kleinhans, 6 Andre Fouché, 5 Shane Kirkwood (captain), 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Ignatius Prinsloo, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Etienne Janeke, 18 Simon Raw, 19 Malembe Mpofu, 20 Ruwald van der Merwe, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Stefan Coetzee.

Griquas: 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Carl Els, 7 Hanru Sirgel (captain), 6 Stephan Smit, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Derik Pretorius, 3 Cebo Dlamini, 2 Gustav du Rand, 1 Kudzwai Dube.
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Neil Otto, 21 Reagan Oranhe, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Eddie Fouche.

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
Assistant Referees: Local
TMO: Quinton Immelman