While they a bonus point for scoring four tries, Western Province’s 38-29 loss to Griquas in their Currie Cup clash in Kimberley on Friday severely dented their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
RECAP | Griquas v Western Province
The match started brightly enough for John Dobson’s charges as it took just five minutes for Western Province to open the scoring when Marcel Theunissen bashed his way over from a ruck close to the Griquas line.
Rookie flyhalf Jurie Matthee slotted a tricky conversion to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
Griquas immediately hit back following a clever attacking move from a lineout close to the Province line that allowed lock Dylan Sjöblom to cross the whitewash.
The accurate boot of fullback George Whitehead then tied up proceedings at 7-7 after 10 minutes.
Leolin Zas’s breakaway was the catalyst for the next try and a 12-7 lead as Western Province regained their advantage through scrumhalf Paul Delport.
In the 28th minute, Griquas were reduced to 14 men when Thabo Ndimande was sent to the bin for 10 minutes following a cynical foul with Western Province on the attack in the Griquas’ 22-metre area.
While they initially struggled to take advantage of their extra man, Province eventually extended their lead in the 37th minute when Theunissen crashed over for his second following a period of sustained pressure by the visitors.
Mathee added the extras as Province opened their lead to 19-7 on the brink of half-time.
Griquas had the final say of the half, however, when Jay-Cee Nel profited from a Rosco Spekman hack ahead to collect the ball and dot down.
Whitehead added the conversion as the teams went into the shed for half-time, with Province leading 19-14.
Griquas hit the front five minutes into the second half when Ndimande grabbed an up-and-under, showed excellent pace and then offloaded for Lubabalo Dobela to score a converted try.
That sparked Province into action, and they dominated the following 10 minutes as they camped in the Griquas 22 metre area on more than one occasion.
The home side’s defence stood firm no matter what Province threw at them, either forcing handling mistakes or securing turnovers to relieve the pressure.
All that Province pressure eventually paid off, and they secured their bonus point try when Willie Engelbrecht rumbled over from a driving maul after the visitors had set up an attacking lineout.
Matthee’s conversion saw Province out to a 26-21 lead with a quarter left in a pulsating contest.
Griquas refused to give in, and they were next to score in the 66th minute as an effective maul saw replacement Sean Swart over the line for his first-ever Currie Cup try.
The educated boot of Whitehead had no problem with the conversion as Griquas led by two points, 28-26.
With eight minutes left, Sango Xamlashe sliced through a midfield gap to cruise over the line for a converted try to Griquas and a 35-26 lead.
With four minutes to go, Province were awarded a penalty which Matthee slotted to cut the lead to 35-29, inside the all-important losing bonus point territory.
In trying to go coast-to-coast from the kick-off, Province were caught in their 22-metre area and eventually penalised.
Whitehead stepped up to slot the penalty to move the Griquas’ lead out to 38-29 and deny Province the extra bonus point at the death.
Scorers
Griquas 38 (14)
Tries: Dylan Sjöblom, Jay-Cee Nel, Lubabalo Dobela, Sean Swart, Sango Xamlashe
Conversions: George Whitehead (5)
Penalties: George Whitehead
WP 29 (19)
Tries: Marcel Theunissen (2), Paul Delport, Willie Engelbrecht
Conversions: Jurie Matthee (3)
Penalties: Jurie Matthee
Teams
Griquas
15 George Whitehead, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Carl Els, 7 Hanru Sirgel (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius 4 Dylan Sjöblom, 3 Justin Forwood, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Kudzwai Dube
Substitutes: 16 Sean Swart, 17 Cebo Dlamini, 18 Eddie Davids, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Stephan Smit, 21 Reagan Oranje, 22 Eduard Fouche, 23 Sango Xamlashe
WP
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Neethling Fouche (captain), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak
Substitutes: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Cornel Smit