Griquas embarrass hapless Elephants

MATCH REPORT: Griquas added the proverbial insult to injury when they whitewashed a hopelessly outclassed Eastern Province Elephants in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

Griquas outscored their hosts by seven tries to none, for a 43-0 win – their first win since South Africa returned to action in the post-COVID domestic season.

The scoreline actually flatters the home team.

The penalty count shows what the Elephants’ biggest problem is – a total lack of discipline. Most of their 20-odd penalties could have been avoided.

What is more shocking is that they did not receive more cards – despite the cynical nature of some of those penalties.

Referee Cwengile Jadezweni was rather lenient with his rulings against the home team, who became increasingly more cynical as their frustration levels rose.

The perfect example was Elephants wing Riaan Arends’ red card in the 58th minute. After tackling an opponent into touch – and after the referee had already blown his whistle – Arends first put his knee into an opponent’s body, then got up on his feet and proceeded to stamp on the same opponent with the studs of his boot.

Griquas also contributed to some of their own ‘problems’ with sloppy play and overeagerness robbing then an a handful of additional try-scoring opportunities – which would have taken the score well beyond the half-century mark.

The Griquas pack was in a ruthless mood – dominating the scrums and winning a steady stream of penalties.

The line-outs also resulted in quality possession, which mostly became powerful and fast-moving mauls.

Only one of the seven tries were scored by a backline player.

Five tries came from mauls and one was a penalty try – the result of a cynically sacked maul that resulted in a yellow card for Elephants No.8 Zingisa April.

The inaccuracy and over-eagerness of the visitors meant Griquas had only a 17-0 lead at half-time – despite their dominance.

In the second half more opportunities were undone by mistakes by Griquas, who controlled the breakdowns, territory and possession, and it was clear they knew where to attack the home team.

The scorers

For the Eastern Province Elephants
None

For Griquas
Tries: Penalty try, Van der Merwe 2, Luus 3, Verity-Amm
Cons: Penalty try does not require a conversion, Davids 3

Red card: Riaan Arends (Eastern Province Elephants, 58 – foul play, stamping on an opponent)
Yellow card: Zingisa April (Eastern Province Elephants, 3 – cynical foul, collapsing a maul close to his tryline)

Teams

EP Elephants: 15 Keanu Vers, 14 Riaan Arends, 13 Athi Mayinje, 12 Sherwin Slater, 11 Christopher Hollis, 10 Courtney Winnaar (captain), 9 Richman Gora, 8 Zingisa April, 7 Anele Lungisa, 6 Diego Williams, 5 Mncedisi Dlwengu, 4 Athenkosi Khetani, 3 Lumpumlo Mguca, 2 Robins Stevens, 1 Marzuq Maarman.
Replacements: 16 Sithembiso Befile, 17 Lyle Lombard, 18 Emile Klaassen, 19 Ronald Scheckle, 20 Bevin Prinsloo, 21 Athi Manentsa, 22 Josh Alderman, 23 Josiah Twum-Boafo.

Griquas: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Michal Haznar, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Enver Brandt, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Stefan Ungerer (captain), 8 Carl Els, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Ewan Coetzee, 3 Tijde Visser, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Nqobisizwe Mxoli.
Replacements – from: 16 Hendrick Luus, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 John-Roy Jenkinson, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Adre Smith, 21 Ashlon Davids, 22 Johnathan Francke, 23 James Verity-Amm, 24 Bandisa Ndlovu, 25 Raegan Oranje, 26 Harlon Klaasen.

Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant referees: Phumzile Mbewu, Sean Muller
TMO: Christie du Preez