Two hat-tricks power Griquas to crushing win over Sharks

MATCH REPORT: Griquas climbed to the top of the Currie Cup standings with an emphatic 55-21 victory over the Sharks in Kimberley on Friday evening.

Griquas showed intent from the first scrum, winning a penalty and they got their first opportunity to attack.

Two penalties against the Sharks within the first two minutes saw Griquas’ maul march agonisingly close to the line.

But tenacious defence by the Sharks prevented a try by holding up Stefan Coetzee over the line, although they conceded another penalty.

When Marco de Witt came around the corner, he thought he had scored but was held up as well as the Sharks once again defended in earnest.

Another penalty kept the ball in the hands of the home side after a high tackle by Tim Swiel.

It took them eight minutes, but finally Janus Venter was the player falling over the line from the maul.

George Whitehead added the extra for an early Griquas lead.

Two minutes later, the Griquas were two tries up after Dylan Maart hoofed the ball upfield and Bobby Alexander rounded it off.

But the try was scratched after the replay indicated the Griquas were offside when putting boot to ball.

Griquas were right back on attack and almost scored; however, Swiel found himself in an offside position, earning him a yellow card. The replay resulted in a penalty try for Griquas as a try would have been scored.

This gave the home side a comfortable cushion of 14-0 after 14 minutes of play.

Tino Mavesere finally scored the Sharks’ first try, keeping a cool head after the ball was almost stolen in the lineout, but the flanker managed to secure possession and score.

Giliomee converted to close the gap to 7-14.

Griquas had the upper hand at the scrum and won the penalty, before kicking for the corner without any discussion of taking the three points. They worked through the phases to open up space out wide before slinging the pass to Dylan Maart, who finished acrobatically in the corner.

The Sharks were awarded a penalty near the Griquas’ end zone and looked to throw the next punch, opting for a quick tap-and-go.

Swiel made his way back onto the pitch before using a show-and-go to round the defender and slide over for the try, also converting the try.

After 30 minutes of play, the home side had a slender 19-14 lead.

The Sharks scored three minutes before halftime, and after Swiel converted, they took the lead; however, it was short-lived as the Griquas scored seconds before the hooter to stretch ahead again by 26-21.

Just after the start of the second half, and having won another scrum penalty, a clever little dink through by Griquas’ Whitehead was dotted down by Maart.

As the Sharks’ woes at scrum time continued, the Griquas were gaining ascendancy.

Whitehead had a wonderful little break as the defence re-enacted the parting of the Red Sea, but they turned over possession and sent Mavesere hurtling downfield before he was brought down.

Heading into the last quarter of the game, the Sharks had conceded nine penalties and a yellow card; they had won 50% of their scrums and had made only 61 tackles to Griquas’ 96.

When Griquas scored with 15 minutes left on the clock, the visitors’ chase would become a stretch too far as they now trailed 21-38.

The Sharks conceded a penalty for offside as they just couldn’t catch a break, with the Griquas setting up another attacking lineout and they punished the visitors with another try from close range.

The Peacock Blues never stopped playing, wrestling their way into the red zone again and were turning the screws.

Cynical play by the Sharks landed Mavesere in hot water, and he got his marching orders. And Lange grabbed a hat-trick to rub further salt into the Sharks’ wounds.

Griquas were playing cat and mouse, with the forwards and backs all handling in a display of stepping and weaving as they advanced comfortably to the tryline, and Maart also added his name to the hat-trick heroes list.

Koen sliced the uprights for a final score of 55-21.

Scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Venter, Penalty Try, Maart 3, Lange 3
Cons: Whitehead 3, Koen 2

For Sharks:
Tries: Mavesere, Swiel, Momsen
Cons: Giliomee, Swiel 2

Yellow cards: Tim Swiel (Sharks, 13’ off side); Tino Mavesere (Sharks, 74’ repeated offense)

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Carel van der Merwe, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Janus Venter, 1 Leon Lyons
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Dillon Smith, 21 Jack Hart, 22 Liam Koen, 23 Sako Makata

Sharks XV: 15 Luan Giliomee, 14 Christie Grobbelaar, 13 Lyle Matthews, 12 Albie Bester, 11 Khuthi Rasivhaga, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Ross Braude (captain), 8 Hanu Pieterse, 7 Wasi Vyambwera, 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Meno Barnard, 4 Johan Momsen, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Liam van Wyk, 1 Jaco du Toit
Replacements: 16 Jacques Marais, 17 Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka, 18 Simphiwe Ngobese, 19 Danio Botha, 20 Sphephelo Mbonambi, 21 Juan Loots, 22 Janco Purchase, 23 Chijindu Okonta

Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Jonathan Lottering
TMO: Quinton Immelman