Western Province pummel Griquas
Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:52
On a run: Western Province captain Luke Watson
Western Province enhanced their chances of hosting one of this year's Currie Cup semifinals after they beat Griquas 43-3 at a soggy Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.
It rained at Newlands. It is the Cape after all and winter is still trying to keep her claws in. It is Newlands after all and that is the wettest part of the Cape. For the men from Kimberley it must have been daunting. No living person, it seems, can remember when last rugby was played in the rain in Kimberley and their unconfident handling showed mystification. Western Province would be more used to it. In fact on this day of heavy first-half rain they gave a great exhibition of wet-weather rugby - handling well, keeping possession well, scrumming well, mauling well, running when there was half a chance, almost perfect in the line-outs (one throw was skew), and when it mattered taking the points on offer.
That Western Province got a bonus point for tries was a surprise. It did not seem like bonus-point weather.
Newlands is brilliantly drained and with an artificial base it is a great surface but when the players, Griquas in white to avoid a clash, ran out they splashed water. There were some spectacular slides during the match, none more so than late in the second half when Riaan Viljoen went low to catch a ball near the touch-line and aquaplaned on his backside for more than five metres into touch.
It was 3rd vs 4th and a close encounter could reasonably be expected. After all when the teams met in Kimberley, Griquas won 33-32. This was not a close encounter as Western Province scored five tries to nil and Griquas only once looked like scoring one.
Griquas played with the weather in the wet first half but it took Western Province less than a minute to take the lead. From the kick-off Sarel Pretorius kicked downfield but team-mates advanced in front of him and were penalised. Joe Pietersen goaled into the weather. 3-0 inside a minute.
Western Province were close when Frikkie Welsh and Dewald Pretorius chased a grubber into the Griqua in-goal but the dead-ball line won and Pretorius was hurt as he skidded some eight metres into a fence.
Griquas had a good moment when Sarel Pretorius broke down the blindside and they then missed a penalty at the subsequent tackle.
Western Province kept ensuring that before anything fancy happened they were going to win the match's and penalties on 16 minutes, 20 minutes and 23 minutes gave them a 12-0 lead. The fourth penalty also earned the Griqua captain a yellow card, not for the first time for the enthusiastic No.8.
After a penalty for obstruction, Western Province formed a line-out near the Griquas 22 and then mauled it 18 metres towards the Griquas line. They bashed and got closer and closer till Brock Harris picked up and dabbed it over the line. 19-0 after 37 minutes.
Griquas score was an interesting one. They footed a dropped ball through and Western Province carried back and then, rather than concede a five-metre scrum, tried to run and pass the ball out of trouble but in the process were guilty of obstruction, and Naas Olivier made it 19-3 after 32 minutes.
Western Province got half their bonus-point job done when from a scrum on the left, Peter Grant broke. Duane Vermeulen carried it on and Dewaldt Duvenhage threw a long and perfect pass to Pietersen who scored right in the corner. 24-3 after 35 minutes.
Western Province started the second half with a significant change. Brumby Matt Toomua, recently arrived in Cape Town, came on in place of Tonderai Chavhanga. He went to flyhalf, Grant to inside centre and Welsh to wing.
Not because of the change but a drab period followed for Western Province as Ricky Januarie replaced Duvenhage and Tiaan Liebenberg was sent to the sin bin for hitting Mokuena. Oddly enough the rain had stopped by now but the rugby did not get going till Western Province kicked a penalty into a five-metre line-out. They bashed and Vermeulen, with help, barged over. Pietersen converted. 31-3 after 36 minutes.
Western Province came back and were hot on the attack when Trompie Nontshinga intercepted and hared off down the field but Pietersen tackled him.
Sireli Naqelevuki came onto the wing in place of Pietersen, not that his presence was felt, but when Aplon went off injured there was no back left to replace him and Deon Fourie came on with flank Pieter Louw shifting to the wing.
Aplon was injured after the best run of the afternoon. Griquas had enjoyed a good period of attack but three times kicked into the Western Province 22 to concede marks. Aplon raced out of his 22 from his mark and skated down the field.
The bonus point came with six minutes left. Western Province mauled for 20 metres or more and then Luke Watson broke away. Toomua went through a halfgap and gave to De Jongh who grubbered into the Griquas in-goal where Welsh dropped on the ball for a try.
There was still one left. Western Province destroyed a Griquas scrum and attacked. A penalty in front they turned into a line-out. A second penalty in front the tapped and went left. Back they came right and Toomua threw a long pass to Pieter Louw, who was pretending he was a wing, and the flank scored in the corner. Grant converted from touch and the final whistle went.
The man who blew the final whistle was Paul Marks of Australia. Currie Cup rugby has been played at Newlands since 1894. For the first time the referee was an Australian.
Man of the Match: Gio Aplon ran best, Joe Pietersen scored most but the most effective worker on the field was our Man of the Match, relentless flank Francois Louw.
The Scorers:
For WP:
Tries: Harris, Pietersen, Vermeulen, Welsh, P Louw
Cons: Pietersen 2, Grant
Pens: Pietersen 4
For Griquas:
Pen: Olivier
Teams
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Frikkie Welsh, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 François Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Brock Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 Pieter Louw, 19 Martin Muller, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Sireli Naqelevuki
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Trompie Nontshinga, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Dewald Pretorius, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Sean Plaatjies, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Rayno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Andries Kruger, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 Heinrich Stride, 19 Rohan Kitshoff, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Bjorn Basson.
Referee: Paul Marks
Assistant referees: Mlungiseli Mdashe, Marco van Zyl
Television match official: JC Fortuin
Assessor: Dennis Immelman
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