Thirteen-man Griquas bully Sharks in their own backyard

MATCH REPORT: Griquas made a massive statement with a comprehensive 37-27 win over the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium on Saturday.

Entering the encounter with wins over the Cheetahs, Western Province and the Lions, the side from Kimberley added the Durbanites to their impressive list of victims to move up to second place on the log.

*To recap all the drama CLICK HERE!!!

They did so in remarkable fashion as they overcame no less than five yellow cards – two back-to-back in the first half and a trifecta in quick succession in the second stanza – to avenge their 16-30 first-round loss to the Men in Black back in June.

Scott Mathie’s men gave the hosts a lesson in cashing in on a numerical advantage after they survived a major storm and then turned the tables to take control of the game right before and after half-time. During this period, in which Sharks scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba was in the sin bin, the visitors showed the accuracy and more importantly, patience, the home team lacked to run in three tries.

And, despite being down to 12 men late in the game, gutsy Griquas held on for a hard-earned win. For the Sharks, it was a costly comedy of errors that saw them surrender top spot on the table to the Bulls, who bagged a 34-13 bonus-point win over 14-man Western Province at Newlands on Saturday.

Griquas got off to a perfect start as wing Daniel Kasende sliced straight through from a well-worked scrum move for the opening try after just two minutes, with George Whitehead popping over the conversion from right in front of the posts.

They gifted the Sharks three points, with runners ahead of the kicker from the restart allowing Curwin Bosch to calm things down and open his team’s account. Moments later, Bosch broke free and looked to have set up a try but the last pass from Werner Kok was ruled forward by TMO Marius van der Westhuizen.

Now in complete control, the hosts piled on the pressure and won a plethora of penalties for their efforts. Janu Botha was the last to infringe before referee Aimee Barrett-Theron lost patience, giving the tighthead prop his marching orders. Scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer followed swiftly for a cynical and dangerous tackle on opposite number Nohamba.

With a two-man advantage, the men in Black and White were their own worst enemies as a lack of patience led to one mistake after the other and wild roars of celebrations from the visitors, who were somehow able to escape their 22 unscathed.

The unprecedented penalty count continued and the powering Le Roux Roets carried strongly before the overzealous hosts went off their feet at the ruck. Remarkably, the Peacock Blues had survived after conceding well over a dozen penalties.

Kok was the catalyst the Durbanites desperately needed with a brilliant break from inside his own half, with fast hands by Anthony Volmink seeing Mpilo Gumede cantering over for what coach Sean Everitt would’ve considered a long-overdue try in the 31st minute. Bosch’s conversion attempt went wide.

Three minutes later, it was the Sharks who were down to 14 men as Nohamba was yellow-carded for a high tackle on Ashlon Davids, which unfortunately resulted in the fullback being stretchered off. Griquas followed the hosts’ example of turning down kickable penalty goals, but unlike their opponents, they got instant reward with not one but two quick seven-pointers.

Hooker Janco Uys rumbled over from a driving maul before Ederies Arendse went over in the corner. Suddenly, and seemingly against all odds, it was the gutsy visitors who held a 21-8 lead after a fascinating first half. Continuing their momentum, it took just six minutes into the second half for Sibabalo Qoma to score the bonus-point try, the flank flopping over from another dominant driving maul and Whitehead again nailing the conversion.

Griquas dominated the scrums and another monster shove led to Whitehead stretching the lead to 31-8 with his first penalty goal of the afternoon in the 53rd minute. On the hour-mark, their indiscipline resurfaced with lock Adre Smith, try-scorer Qoma and replacement hooker HJ Luus all seeing yellow.

A much-needed try by Reniel Hugo got the ball rolling for the Sharks only for a penalty to allow Whitehead to slow things down and make it 34-13 with 11 minutes to go. Yaw Penxe scored from the restart and replacement flank Thembelani Bholi went over for the four-try bonus point in the 77th minute, but it was too little too late as Griquas – who’d banked a final three points via Whitehead in between those tries – came away with the win.

Man of the match: Le Roux Roets of the Sharks made a couple of strong carries. Griquas flyhalf George Whitehead was flawless from the tee –  kicking over all his kicks. Our nod goes to Griquas no.8 Ruan Steenkamp, who put in an absolutely solid performance. The Captain led from the front with big tackles and strong carries.

The scorers:

For the SHarks:
Tries: Gumede, Hugo, Penxe, Bholi
Cons: Bosch 2
Pen: Bosch

For Griquas:
Tries: Kasende, Uys, Arendse, Qoma,
Cons: Whitehead 4
Pens: Whitehead 3

Yellow cards: Stefan Ungerer (Griquas, 21 – foul play), Janu Botha, (Griquas, 19 – deliberate infringements), Sanele Nohamba (Sharks, 34- Dangerous play), Adre Smith (Griquas,60 – deliberate infringement), Sibabalo Qoma (Griquas, 61 – deliberate infringements), HJ Luus (Griquas, 67 – deliberate infringements)

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Werner Kok, 12 Murray Koster, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (captain), 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 James Venter, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Lionel Cronje 23 Jeremy Ward.

Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Stefan Willemse, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Mox Mxoli.
Replacements – from: 16 HJ Luus, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Cameron Lindsay, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Tijde Visser, 25 Luyolo Dapula, 26 Theo Boshoff.

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant Referees: Kelsey Symons, Zukile Madikizela
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen