Griquas produce stunning fightback to sink WP in Cape Town
CURRIE CUP REPORT: Griquas produced a stunning second-half fightback to beat Western Province 32-13 in their Currie Cup Round Four clash at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts went into the break leading 13-0, but they could not carry that momentum in the second half.
Griquas, who were inspired by George Whitehead off the bench, scored 32 unanswered points in the second 40 to hand WP their second defeat in a row.
After both teams had their fair share of possession in the opening stages, WP finally opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a Kade Wolhuter penalty.
After dominating the possession stats, Wolhuter doubled WP’s lead in the 26th minute with another penalty.
Griquas flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela had a chance to make it a three-point margin again in the 29th minute, but he pushed his penalty wide of the upright.
WP had the final say in the half when wing Fazeel Robertson found his way to the tryline after sustained pressure inside Griquas’ 22.
Wolhuter added the extra two points with the conversion.
Griquas came out for the second half with fire in their bellies and they got their first points in the 45th minute when Eddie Fouche stretched over for a try. Dobela’s conversion was unsuccessful.
The visitors then went within touching distance of the hosts when George Whitehead intercepted a pass inside WP’s half before the ball found its way to Reagan Oranje who ran in for the try.
Whitehead added the extra two points with the conversion and Griquas were just a point behind after 50 minutes.
Griquas then found themselves in front in the 54th minute after Whitehead converted a penalty inside WP’s half into three points.
The visitors started to dominate most areas of the game and they were in again in the 56th minute when Jay-Cee Nel gathered the ball from a long pass and ran in for his team’s third try. Whitehead made it a nine-point lead with his conversion.
Whitehead extended his team’s lead in the 69th minute with another penalty.
Griquas lock Derik Pretorius put the final nail in WP’s coffin when he powered over for a try in the 79th minute.
Man of the match: The award gas to go to George Whitehead. He came off the bench and completely changed the game with his tactical play and kicking.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Try: Robertson
Con: Wolhuter
Pens: Wolhuter 2
For Griquas:
Tries: Fouche, Oranje, Nel, Pretorius
Cons: Whitehead 3
Pens: Whitehead 2
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Edward Coulson, 14 Tom Nel, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Fazeel Robertson, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Louwan Horn, 21 Labib Kennemeyer, 22 Bruce Sherwood, 23 Jacques Rousseau.
Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Reagan Oranje, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Eddie Fouche, 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 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Kudzwai Dube, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Michael Amiras, 20 Neil Otto, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Alex-Zander du Plessis, 23 Sango Xamlashe.
Referee: Christopher Allison
Assistant referees: Local
TMO: Quinton Immelman
