Late rally seals it for WP
The visitors were kept in the contest by the boot of Clinton Swart but their defence let them down in the final quarter of the match as the home side ran riot.
WP made early inroads but had nothing to show for it in the opening minutes and found themselves trailing in the 13th minute when Swart slotted an easy penalty after the home side's scrum folded under pressure on their five metre line.
The match continued to be bruising as both teams were made to work hard on defence. It took the home side 22 minutes to break their duck, thanks to a Kurt Coleman penalty. The visitors were reduced to 14 men a minute later when Carel Greeff was sent to the bin for a high tackle on Nizaam Carr.
WP took full advantage of their extra man when Cheslin Kolbe went on sniping run down the touchline before handing a pass to Jaco Taute on his inside. The centre was hauled in by a charging Martin Bezuidenhout, five metres from the try line, but had the presence of mind to offload to Nic Groom who fended off a tackle to dot down in the corner in the 25th minute. Coleman added the extra points to hand the home side a seven point lead.
The visitors reduced the deficit to a solitary point when Swart slotted two penalties in quick succession but with two minutes remaining in the half, Coleman slotted a penalty of his own as the home side went into the break with a four point lead.
It took the visitors just three minutes to get more points on the board as Swart slotted his fourth kick of the match to reduce the deficit to a solitary point.
The match took a bad turn as handling errors and penalties made for a stop-start affair, however, Swart would hand the visitors the lead in the 55th minute when he slotted his fifth penalty of the match but their joy would be short lived.
The home side went on the attack and after numerous phases close to Griquas' try line, Rynhardt Elstadt picked up the ball at the back of a ruck and took full advantage of a gap to dive over the line. Coleman added the conversion as the home side retook the lead.
A further three points were added in the 67th minute by Coleman before WP displayed the type of attack the home crowd was waiting for. Bongi Mbonambi claimed a turn over and the ball was sent wide. At least five players got their hands on the ball and it was Kolbe who had a neat interplay with Jaco Taute before the veteran hacked the ball forward and managed to run the ball down and grab the score.
The Newlands faithful were once again brought to their feet when Dillyn Leyds took a quick penalty inside his 22 and set off on a run. He made it to the halfway line before handing the ball to Robert du Preez, who drew a defender before passing it to Seabelo Senatla. The wing sent a grubber through and du Preez chased it down to grab the bonus point try for the home side with six minutes remaining in the match.
That proved to be the final points of the encounter as WP got their campaign back on track.
Man of the Match: Clinton Swart's boot kept Griquas in the contest while RJ Liebenberg caused havoc at the breakdowns and put in some big hits. Martin Bezuidenhout played like a man possessed, characterised by him hauling in Jaco Taute. Chris Cloete was busy and almost everywhere for the home side and Kurt Coleman kept them in touching distance with his trusty boot. However, Jaco Taute was involved in almost every attack and capped on a good performance with a try.
Scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Groom, Elstadt, Taute, du Preez
Cons: Coleman 2
Pens: Coleman 3
For Griquas:
Pens: Swart 5
Yellow card: Carel Greeff (Griquas, 23 – foul play, high tackle), Jaco Nepgen (Griquas, 62 – foul play, dangerous tackle)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr (captain), 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jean-Pierre Smith, 18 Chris van Zyl, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Dillyn Leyds.
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Sandile Ngcobo, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Carel Greeff, 7 RJ Liebenberg, 6 Hilton Lobberts, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 AJ Le Roux, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 19 Jonathan Adendorf, 20 Leon Karemaker, 21 Gouws Prinsloo, 22 Jacquin Jansen.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Rodney Boneparte, Archie Sehlako
TMO: Johan Greeff
