Griquas taint Cape pride
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:27
The Griquas secured their first victory in this season's Currie Cup with an upset victory over Western Province in Kimberley.
The hardened turf and telling hits at Absa Park proved too much for the Cape side as the Griquas put on a rampant performance which has bumped them up into sixth position on the competition log.
Western Province, sitting on top of the Currie Cup long, went up to cold Kimberley to play Griquas, sitting on the bottom of the Currie Cup log - and lost.
It was a victory for courage, determination and an exceptional kick. An amazing kick.
They are the oldest provinces in South Africa - dating back to days before there was a Johannesburg and Kimberley was a rich and prosperous place. They were the first team to hold the Currie Cup, but those days are far back in history and now they are a Cinderella province in the Currie Cup, just staying in it and making up the numbers but not really challenging the Big Five.
It was a match that Western Province would expect to win, as if their sophistication would produce effortless victory They looked as if they expected to win it, resenting being in the cold wind on the hard ground with the frost-burnt grass, a long way from the cosy comfort of soft, green Newlands.
They started off handling but gradually it was the hard men of Kimberley who smashed into them and took over possession and territory.
Western Province, playing mostly in white so as not to clash with the peacock blue and white hoops of Griquas, scored first when Herkie Kruger refused to budge in a tackle and Willem de Waal goaled. He missed two penalties in the half but later would goal a vital kick.
Conrad Barnard of Griquas also missed two kicks in the half and then when he missed a third in the second half he - crucially - yielded his place as a kicker to Riaan Viljoen.
Griquas scored the first try. Wylie Human took a quick throw-in from touch after a long Griqua kick. He threw to Gio Aplon who had Frans Viljoen charging at him. The little fullback threw the ball infield in the direction of De Waal but over De Waal's head. The flyhalf scampered back for the ball but Frans Viljoen flattened him and won a turnover. Wayne van Heerden was on hand to pass the ball to his left and Gavin Passens raced over for the try. 5-3 after 8 minutes.
After two misses De Waal then goaled one for a tackle offence. 6-5 to Western Province after 16 minutes.
Now Griquas did a lot of attacking with short passes to close runners and big Stephan Gerber prominent.
Gareth Krause, on for injured Frans Viljoen, won a turn-over, Van Heerden had a storming run over many acres till the Griquas were at the line. Sturdy James van der Walt was at the line where Krause got the ball and plunged down for the try, which Barnard converted. 12-6. A justified 12-6 after 27 minutes.
Gcobani Bobo had a strong run and had just Riaan Viljoen to beat. He opted to try to run over the slender fullback. The slender fullback slammed him, got to his feet and went the other way leaving Western Province to scramble on defence.
Griquas attacked far right from a scrum and then went left and seemed certain to score but Tonderai Chavhanga dashed forward and saved with a telling tackle.
Griquas were over for a try in the second half when Viljoen broke and well tonsured Egon Seconds went over but the case was referred to the TMO who advised that a pass had been forward.
When François Louw was penalised at a tackle, Kruger gave the kicking to Viljoen. It was a kick straight in front of the posts. He kicked it over the crossbar and over the suites and out of the ground. The nature of that kick should have served as a warning. He kicked a second penalty from a difficult angle and Griquas led 18-6. Heady stuff for those who made it to Absa Park, the old Hoffe Park.
Then Western Province got a try. They had an attacking line-out and made a maul, a whirling maul, presuming to prevent its being pulled out. This dizzy drive took them to the line and over the line for a try to Louw. De Waal converted. 18-13 after 58 ,minutes.
Western Province had another five-metre line-out but did not repeat the dizzy drive and lost the ball but they were soon back on the attack with an overlap for Human who played inside to Aplon who stretched a left arm out to "score". The referee referred this one to the TMO who found that the tiny pass from Human to Aplon had been forward.
Still wind-=assisted Western Province were on top.
Bobo, in the centre, had caused much trouble for the Griqua defence with his inside passes from the centre. He did one now on the Western Province left, turning the ball inside to Aplon about five metres outside the Western Province 22. The fullback raced down the field. When he was held more than 50 metres down the field, Ross Skeate hurled the ]ball out to his left. Human recovered the bouncing ball and gave a sweet pass to Brok Harris on his outside and the prop barged over in the left corner. From the left side of the field, left-footed De Waal goaled in the difficult win. Western Province led 20-18 with 12 minutes to play.
With nine minutes to play Western Province were penalised three metres on the Griqua side of their 10-metre line. Viljoen was given the kick and opted, madly it seemed, to kick for goal. The kick rose straight and true. It dipped and dipped but when it went past the crossbar it sill had some power left. 21-20.
In those nine minutes Western Province tried playing through phases but the Griqua tails were up and the big hits landed time and again and Western Province made no headway at all.
The Griqua victory was well deserved.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Passens, Van der Walt
Con: Barnard
Pens: Viljoen 3
For Western Province:
Tries: Louw, Harris
Cons: De Waal 2
Pens: De Waal 2
Teams:
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Egon Seconds, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Herkie Kruger (captain), 11 Gavin Passens, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Heinrich Stride, 7 Stephan Gerber, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Wayne van Heerden, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 James van der Walt, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Rohan Kitshoff/Bees van Dyk, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Cilliers Coetzer, 19 Gareth Krause, 20 Tobie Botes, 21 Lafras Uys, 22 MJ Mentz.
Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Morgan Newman, 12 Gcobani Bobo (captain), 11 Wylie Human, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Alastair Siegelaar, 8 AJ Venter, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Pieter Myburgh, 5 Ross
Skeate, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Nico Du Plessis, 19 Justin Melck, 20 Paul Delport, 21 Isma-eel Dollie, 22 PJ Vermeulen.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Touch judges: Jaco Peyper, Peter de Bruin
Television match official: Willie Roos
Assessor: Gerrit Coetzer
