News

Griquas extend Currie Cup lead

August 07 2009

The Griquas have continued their fairy-tale opening to the Currie Cup, beating Western Province 33-32 on Friday to maintain their 100 per cent record.

Five wins from five is impressive reading, but for an unfancied province surrounded by bigger and better, it is phenomenal.

Teamwork and sheer sweat and toil won the day for them here, with the defence swarming to the point of running themselves almost out of gas - epitomised by Naas Olivier's epic chase back and catch of a tryline-bound Frikkie Welsh with five minutes to go.

Olivier and co. also displayed a fine element of clinicality, ensuring that they came away with points each time they visited the Province 22, something the Capetonians singlularly failed to manage. Luke Watson in particular was guilty of failing to catch the ball at key moments and there were generally too many handling errors from the men in white.

The Griquas, after a stuttery opening, set out their stall to attack and reaped immediate benefits when tighthead Ruaan du Preez was driven over for the opening try, which Naas Olivier converted.

Joe Pietersen, who had missed one shot at goal in the opening minute from distance, landed a more simple penalty to pull his side back to within a score.

The visitors were not going to let the table-topping Griquas have things all their own way, and several repeated drives and infringements yielded a penalty try to give Province the lead at 10-7.

The hosts upped the pace, still opting for position rather than kicks at goal, and Sarel Pretorius was the one to hammer the advantage home this time, scampering over for a try from a quick tapped penalty to restore the lead.

Riaan Viljoen extended that with a monster of a drop goal, with Olivier making it 20-10 with a penalty five minutes before the break, but flanker Francois Louw plunged over from the back of a ruck right on the hooter, with Pietersen converting to make it 20-17.

Olivier controlled the game expertly after the break, utilising the breeze at his back to pin Province back in their own half. As a result, the game closed up considerably.

Olivier extended the lead with a penalty, while Viljoen missed with two other drop goal attempts as the hosts looked to get more than a score ahead.

Viljoen was the architect of what looked to be the killer try, a quarter of an hour before the end, breaking into and through the line superbly before timing his pass to Bjorn Basson to go under the posts and Olivier made it 30-17.

Province refused to lie down though and with the Griquas tiring, Tonderai Chavhanga was given an easy run-in in the right-hand corner.

Peter Grant's missed conversion still had his side trailing by more than a converted score, but Grant landed a penalty with five minutes to go after Du Preez had been sent to the bin for a high tackle.

Viljoen extended the lead to eight once more with a magnificent drop goal as the tension mounted, but Peter Louw's try and Grant's conversion with 90 seconds left ensured a gripping finale.

The scorers:

For the Griquas:

Tries: Du Preez, Pretorius, Basson

Cons: Olivier 3

Pens: Olivier 2

Drop goals: Viljoen 2

For Western Province:

Tries: Penalty try, F Louw, Chavhanga, P Louw

Cons: Pietersen 2, Grant

Pens: Pietersen, Grant

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Dewald Pretorius/ Egon Seconds, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (c), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.

Replacments: 16 Andries Kruger, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Heinrich Stride, 19 Sean Plaatjie/ Nolan Clark, 20 Dougie Helmuth, 21 Hanno Coetzee, 22 Gavin Passens.

Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen,14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Morgan Newman, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (c), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton Van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.

Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 Adriaan Fondse, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Morgan Newman, 22 Frikkie Welsh.

Referee: Craig Joubert