The ORC Griquas consolidated their position at the Top of the ABSA Currie Cup Qualifier log with a 7-try 47 / 20 win over the Down Touch Griffons at Griquas Park in Kimberley on Saturday. They now have a 6-point cushion over the Leopards (10 points), who had a BYE this weekend.
Griquas scored 6 tries in the 2ndnd half to easily overcome the visitors and increase their log points to 16 after 4 games in the race for promotion to the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division.
In the 2 matches played on Friday night, the Hino Valke caused an upset when they scraped to a 13 / 12 win over the Border Bulldogs, down to 13 men at one stage, to hand the East London side their 1st defeat of the campaign.
At Outeniqua Park in George the Boland Cavaliers kicked a last minute penalty to force a 28 / 28 draw against SWD Eagles. Despite collecting 2 points, the Eagles remain anchored at the foot of the table and are winless after 4 games.
ORC Griquas (7) 47 / 20 (6) Down Touch Griffons:
It was the Griquas’ 3rd-bonus point win from 4 matches, but throughout the 1st 35 minutes they were pinned back by an enthusiastic Griffons team who were prepared to run the ball and showed some neat handling skills. The Griquas defence was severely tested by the waves of attacks, and they were lucky to be just 6 points down from 2 Franna du Toit penalties after 30 minutes.
Whenever the hosts did get the ball from broken play, their handling let them down. That was until Griquas No 10 Francois Brummer changed the game with a superb chip over the defence for centre Jonathan Francke to gather and score under the posts.
The Griffons were firmly in the game at halftime, but they had no answer to the onslaught that followed. 4 Minutes after the halftime break, No 8 Carel Greef peeled away from a maul and then the nippy No 9 Tian Meyer surged through the backline after quick handling by flank RJ Liebenberg. With Prinsloo converting both tries, Griquas suddenly had a healthy 15 points lead at 21 / 6.
No matter how hard they fought, the Griffons could not release the relentless pressure and 4 more tries followed. Wing Ntabeni Dukisa shrugged off a series of weak tackles and then Brummer was at the end of a great break by Greeff.
Hugo Kloppers was put through by Prinsloo and Martin Bezuidenhout was given the scoring pass by Kloppers from a lineout 5m out. The scoreline was eventually given some respectability by 2 break-out tries in the last 5 minutes by wings Vuyo Mbotho and Norman Nelson, converted by Wynand Pienaar.
Scorers:
ORC Griquas:
- Tries: Jonathan Francke (1), Carel Greeff (1), Ntubeni Dukisa (1), Tian Meyer (1), Francois Brummer (1), Hugo Kloppers (1), Martin Bezuidenhout (1)
- Conversions: Gouws Prinsloo (6)
Down Touch Griffons:
- Tries: Vuyo Mbotho (1), Norman Nelson (1)
- Conversions: Wynand Pienaar (2)
- Penalties: Franna du Toit (2)
Border Bulldogs (6) 12 / 13 (3) Hino Valke:
The difference between the 2 teams at the Buffalo Stadium was the Penalty Try awarded to the Valke after the Border captain, Blake Kyd, was sent off the field for obstruction halfway through the 2nd half. The incident occurred just 2 minutes after Border lock Wandile Putuma was Yellow Carded, thus handing the visitors a 2-man advantage.
Otherwise, it was a game of penalty kicks, with the promising former Dale College fullback Logan Basson, a 32 minutes injury replacement for the influential Masixole Banda, kicking 3 penalties.
Border more than held their own, with some bone-crunching tackling but they were unable to breach the defensive line. The result is a bitter blow for Border, who had won their 2 previous ties against Griquas and Boland and were expected to win in front of a vociferous home crowd.
Scorers:
Border Bulldogs:
- Penalties: Masixole Banda (1), Logan Basson (3)
Hino Valke:
- Tries: Penalty Try (1)
- Conversions: Juan Kotze (1)
- Penalties: Juan Kotze (2)
SWD Eagles (22) 28 / 28 (11) Boland Cavaliers:
The Boland Cavaliers fought-back from an 11-point deficit to snatch a last gasp 28 / 28 draw against the SWD Eagles at Outeniqua Park in George. Replacement flyhalf Adriaan Carelse kicked the last minute penalty to draw the scores level.
The Eagles must have thought that they had done enough when fullback Elric van Vuuren slotted a penalty to open up a 3-point lead with 2 minutes remaining.
Van Vuuren kicked 23 points via 7 penalties and a conversion, while wing Danwel Demas ran in a brace of tries for the visitors. Van Vuuren slotted 4 penalties in the 1st stanza and he also converted the try of No 9 Johannes Steyn, who dotted down 6 minutes before the break.
However, Boland were kept in the match by Demas’ 1st try while fullback Eric Zana landed 2 penalties as SWD led 22 / 11 at halftime.
The visitors were more competitive after the restart, with Demas going over for his 2nd try and Van Vuuren adding another penalty to cut the deficit to 25 / 18.
They levelled matters 3 minutes later through a try by Yves Bashiya (flank). In a thrilling finish, Van Vuuren and Carelse traded penalties to lock the entertaining match at 28 / 28.
Scorers:
SWD Eagles:
- Tries: Johannes Steyn (1)
- Conversions: Elric van Vuuren (1)
- Penalties: Elric van Vuuren (7)
Boland Cavaliers:
- Tries: Danwel Demas (2), Yves Bashiya (1)
- Conversions: Eric Zana (2)
- Penalties: Eric Zana (2), Adriaan Carelse (1)