Griquas stun Sharks in Kimberley
Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:01
Currie Cup dangerman: Livewire Griquas scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius
Griquas scored another famous upset win over the Sharks, beating them 40-34 in a 10-try thriller match in Kimberley on Saturday.
This First Round Currie Cup match showed that Griquas' performances last year were no fluke and on the basis of this showing the men from Kimberley will again be in the hunt for the play-offs in October.
The Sharks, after a solid first-half performance, became disjointed a lot of hard work awaits the men from Durban. They certainly played like a team that lacks experience in key decision-making positions.
Griquas, however, showed far more composure and came back strongly after trailing 8-22 at half-time and scored two converted tries early in the second half to set up the game for a thrilling finish.
And a thrilling finish it was, as Griquas raced into a 40-27 lead going into the final 10 minutes, before holding off a late Sharks rally.
Griquas opened the scoring in the sixth minute, when Naas Olivier slotted a penalty after the Sharks went offside at a ruck.
Four minutes later Rory Kockott fluffed a chance to level the scores, but the Sharks hit the front in the 14th minute.
Left wing Lwazi Mvovo scored the opening try, after Sharks took it through the phases and sucked in the Griquas defence. Kockott added the conversion for a 7-3 lead.
That became 12-3 after 22 minutes, with the Sharks' second try - coming from a quick tap-'n-go by Keegan Daniel and Steve Meyer flopped over from five metres out. The conversion was wide.
Griquas fought back strongly and a couple of penalties - one from a collapsed maul - saw them five metres out from the Sharks line. Another strong maul and hooker Rayno Barnes went over for Griquas' opening try. Olivier, kicking into the teeth of a strong wind, was short with the conversion attempt - 8-12.
The Sharks stretched their lead to 15-8 with a Kockott penalty in the 34th minute and then Michael Rhodes went over for the third Sharks try - after a good injection of pace by the backs - and Kockott's conversion made it 22-8.
However, moments later the Sharks were reduced to 14 men when flank Jacques Botes was yellow-carded for punching.
Griquas failed to make their numerical advantage count as the Sharks turned over a number of balls inside their own 22 in the remaining minutes of the first half - with Alistair Hargreaves stealing a couple of line-out balls and Craig Burden winning a penalty at the tackle.
Griquas set the game alight early in the second half, when loosehead prop Steph Roberts burst over from a ruck close to the line. But the try had its origin much further upfield - where former Stellenbosch Varsity Cup star Wesley Wilkins burst clear in the midfield. Olivier added the conversion to narrow the gap to 15-22.
Ten minutes later Springbok Bjorn Basson scored his team's third try - coming from a turnover ball inside the Griquas 22 and quick hands that put him in the clear . Olivier's conversion levelled it up at 22-all.
However, the Sharks hit back straight away through wing Lwazi Mvovo in the left corner - even though it required the TMO to confirm the score. With Rory Kockott off the field, Patrick Lambie took over the kicking duties, but his conversion attempt was wide.
Olivier pulled three points back with a penalty in the 60th minute - 25-27.
And again the Sharks came back strongly, with Keegan Daniel over the line, but this time the TMO ruled that it was 'inconclusive' and Griquas soon won a penalty turnover at a tackle as the game heated up.
Griquas regained the lead in the 65th minuter, with another Olivier penalty, after the Sharks came in at the side of a ruck inside their 22 - 28-27 to the home team.
Wilkins then stretched the lead with his team's bonus-point try in the 68th minute - a brilliant pick-'n-go and just reward and afternoon's hard graft. Olivier's conversion made it 35-27 with just over 10 minutes to go.
The lead was further stretched with a brilliant chip-'n-chase by Basson - his second try - and even though Olivier's conversion was wide, the Sharks needed two converted tries in nine minutes - with the score at 40-27 in favour of the home team.
The first of those tries came when prop Patric Cilliers flopped over, after a quick tap-'n-go, and Lambie added the conversion - 34-40 with five minutes to go.
With two minutes remaining Viljoen was just short with a penalty from his own 10-metre line and even though the Sharks had one last chance at a try, Griquas desperately held on for another famous win.
Man of the match: You can look at several Sharks, but the real heroes were in peacock blue. There was new Springbok Bjorn Basson, with his two brilliant tries, flyhalf Naas Olivier, scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius and fullback Riaan Viljoen. However, our award goes to Griquas flank Wesley Wilkins - a former Stellenbosch Varsity Cup star who showed he belongs on the Currie Cup stage.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Barnes, Roberts, Basson 2, Wilkins
Cons: Olivier 3
Pens: Olivier 3
For the Sharks:
Tries: Mvovo 2, Meyer, Rhodes, Cilliers
Cons: Kockott 2, Dumond
Pen: Kockott
Yellow card: Jacques Botes (Sharks, 37 - foul play, punching)
The teams:
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Rocco Jansen, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Matt Rosslee, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier (captain), 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Wesley Wilkins, 5 Cecil Kemp, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Albertus Buckle, 2 Rayno Barnes, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Jacobus Adriaanse, 18 Frikkie Spies,
19 Gerhard Human, 20 Barry Geel, 21 Richard Lawson.
Sharks: 15 Patrick Lambie, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Steve Meyer, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Patric Cilliers.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Anton Bresler, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Andries Strauss.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha (SARU) Linston Manuels (Boland)
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee (Free State)
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