Rampant Griquas pile misery on Bulls XV

MATCH REPORT: Griquas secured their first victory of the 2026 Currie Cup campaign with an emphatic 56-26 win over the Bulls XV in Kimberley on Saturday.

The defending champions outscored the Bulls eight tries to four, with Gurswin Wehr and Bobby Alexander each bagging a hat-trick.

It was certainly a big day for Alexander, who marked his 50th appearance for Griquas in memorable fashion with three five-pointers.

Cameron Hufke also made his 50th appearances, but his outing was short-lived due to an injury.

The bonus-point victory lifts Griquas to third on the Currie Cup standings, with Boland and Stormers XXIII still to meet on Sunday.

For the Bulls, it was a second successive defeat after last weekend’s loss to Boland, leaving the Pretoria outfit rooted to the bottom of the table.

It was an entertaining contest packed with attacking rugby, but also interrupted by a series of injuries, as Griquas took a 28-19 advantage into the half-time break.

The Bulls made the perfect start. After a superb line-out steal, they retained possession before PA van Niekerk sliced through the defence to score inside the opening minute and hand the visitors a 5-0 lead.

The early celebrations were short-lived, however, as the Bulls were forced into an early substitution when Shaun Schürmann was stretchered off the field in the second minute.

Griquas gradually worked their way into the contest and looked set to strike from a driving maul, only for the Bulls’ defence to produce a tremendous effort to halt their momentum.

The hosts eventually found their breakthrough. Sparked by a powerful run from hooker Tiaan Lange, the ball was worked wide to centre Zane Bester, who beat two defenders with a blistering burst of pace before putting Bobby Alexander—playing in his 50th match for Griquas—over for the try. George Whitehead added the conversion to give the hosts a 7-5 lead.

The Bulls’ injury woes continued when try-scorer Van Niekerk was forced from the field with an ankle injury.

Griquas capitalised moments later. Cameron Hufke showed excellent pace before producing a perfectly weighted kick ahead for Gershwin Wehr to gather and dive over for the hosts’ second try, extending the lead to 14-5.

The home side were then dealt an injury setback of their own, with fullback Hufke—also making his 50th appearance for Griquas—leaving the field with a hamstring injury.

The Bulls responded around the 20-minute mark when a pinpoint kick from Brooklyn Newman was gathered by Hakeem Kunene, who crossed for the visitors’ second try.

But Griquas hit back immediately. Connor Mahoney produced a sensational break from deep inside his own half before sending Alexander over for his second try of the match.

The Bulls began to struggle at the set-piece, with Griquas dominating both the scrums and line-outs.

The hosts thought they had added another five-pointer through a driving maul, but the referee ruled the ball had been held up over the line, keeping the score at 21-12.

With four minutes remaining before half-time, Griquas would not be denied. Another powerful rolling maul ended with IG Prinsloo crashing over, and Whitehead added the extras to stretch the lead to 28-12.

On the stroke of half-time, the Bulls camped inside the Griquas 22 and patiently built through multiple phases before Devon Williams stepped past Dylan Maart to dive over in the corner. Johannes narrowed the deficit with the conversion, leaving Griquas 28-19 ahead at the break.

Griquas struck first after the restart when Lourens Oosthuizen powered over from close range. Whitehead converted to extend the lead to 35-19.

The hosts continued to pile on the pressure. Wehr sold a superb dummy, beat two defenders and released Alexander, who raced away to complete his hat-trick.

The Bulls briefly responded through Riyaad Bam, with the winger catching the defence napping before sprinting away to score and secure the visitors’ bonus-point try.

Any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished as Wehr intercepted twice in the closing stages, racing away to complete his own hat-trick and seal a dominant 56-26 victory for the defending champions.

Player of the match: Gurswin Wehr ran him close with a devastating display out wide. The winger was electric every time he touched the ball, carving open the Bulls’ defence with a series of incisive runs before also completing a hat-trick. Lourens Oosthuizen also deserves a mention, the flank dominated the collisions. However Bobby Alexander, gets our nod after a sensational performance in his 50th appearance for Griquas. The scrumhalf was at the heart of the hosts’ attacking display, dictating play with ball in hand and finishing with a superb hat-trick of tries.

The scorers:

For the Griquas:
Tries: Alexander 3, Wehr 3, Prinsloo, Oosthuizen
Cons: Whitehead 8

For the Bulls
Tries: Van Niekerk, Kunene, Williams, Bam
Cons: Johannes 3

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bestee, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Lungisi Mbiko, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons
Replacements: 16 Janco Uys, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Carel van der Merwe, 20 Phumzile Maqondwana, 21 Caleb Abrahams, 22 Sako Makata, 23 Connor Mahoney

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Hakeem Kunene, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 PA van Niekerk, 11 Riyaad Bam, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Brooklyn Newman, 8 JJ Theron, 7 Cephas van Biljon, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Dian Coeztee, 2 Shaun Schürmann, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jaundre Schoeman, 17 Damian Baker, 18 Mawande Mdanda, 19 Abongile Nonkontwana, 20 Thomas Beling, 21 Neil Le Roux, 22 Viaan Mentoor, 23 JJ Motlhodi

Referee: Morne Ferreira
Assistant referees: Dylen November, Sean Muller
TMO: Marius Jonker