Griquas hold off plucky Pumas

Griquas held off a determined Pumas side to secure a 31-22 victory in an entertaining encounter on the opening day of the 2009 Craven Week at the Border Rugby Union Stadium on Monday.

The match began at a good pace, with both teams showing good attacking intent. Griquas opened the scoring with an early penalty from the boot of flyhalf Johandre van der Walt.

Griquas made most of the running in the opening quarter, but struggled to break through the well-organised Pumas defence. The Pumas were under incredible pressure from Griquas, but they held firm for extended periods despite playing into a stiff breeze.

Griquas' attacking movements were static at times and they struggled to play with much enterprise. Wing Regenald Colosa did produce some excitement with a scything break through the Pumas defence. Griquas continued to dominate and kept the ball amongst the pack. Flank J Africa was on hand to score from close range.

The Pumas responded well to the setback, fullback Ulrich Beyers slotting a penalty after a rare expedition into Griquas territory. Griquas pushed hard again, but were held up just short to end the half 10-3 in favour of the boys from the Northern Cape.

Griquas extended their lead in somewhat fortuitous fashion after the break. A kick into the Pumas 22 was poorly dealt with by the last defender and the ball bounced off the goal post. Centre Neul Menezes was on hand to gather and dot down for his side's second try.

The Pumas youngsters refused to give up despite the 14-point deficit and got a try back through Abednego Mamushi, who made a great pick up after a well-weighted grubber by Beyers.
The game started to open up in the final quarter and the finishing from both sides improved.

Menezes grabbed his second score for Griquas, before Pumas flank Sandile Ngwenya rounded off the best movement of the game to score in the corner. The Pumas showed some clever handling and incisive running angles which opened up the Griquas defence. The ball was recycled quickly and moved to Ngwenya who trotted over for his team's second try.

Griquas, though, had the upper hand in terms of possession and territory and made further inroads. They scored the match-sealing try near the end before the Pumas snatched a consolation try through lock Christoff Gouws on the final whistle.

Scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Africa, Menezes 2, Carney
Cons: vd Walt 4
Pens: vd Walt

For Pumas:
Tries: Mamushi, Ngwenya, Christoff Gouws
Cons: Beyers 2
Pens: Beyers

Griquas: 15 W Bester (Diamantveld), 14 D Koopman (Noord-Kaap), 13 H Momberg (Landboudal) ,12 Menzies(Diamantveld),11 T Boltman (Noord-Kaap), 10 J van der Walt (Noord-Kaap), 9 N Nieklaassen(Diamantveld), 8 D Carney(Noord-Kaap), 7 J Africa (Noord-Kaap), 6 H van Niekerk (Noord-Kaap), 5 H Groenweald, 4 L du Raan (Landboudal), 3 W van Zyl (Diamantveld), 2 G Bruwer (Landboudal),1 F Vermeulen (Diamantveld), 16 N van der Westhuizen (Diamantveld), 17 D Fraser (Victoria West), 18 V Vermaas (Landboudal), 19 J Rooifontein (Prieska), 20 T Thupe (Noord-Kaap), 21 D Gorrah (Noord-Kaap), 22 R Colosa (Noord-Kaap)

Pumas: 15 Ulrich Beyers (Ermelo), 14 Siso Maseko (Ermelo), 13 Clearance Khumalo (Rob Ferreira), 12 Karl-Hein Schuld (Nelspuit), 11 Abednego Mamushi (Middelburg), 10 Divan Muller (Middelburg), 9 Emile Temperman (Nelspruit), 8 Bruce Zeelie (HTS Middelburg), 7 SandileNgwenya (Middelburg) 6 Henrik Haasbroek (Nelspruit), 5 Christoff Gouws(Nelspruit), 4 Frederik Ngoza (Volksrust) 3 Stiaan Barnard (HTS MIddelburg), 2 Mark Pretorius (Nelspruit), 1 Jacques Kotze (Nelspruit), 16 Hannes Struwig (HTS Middelburg) , 17 Nhlanhla Mhlanga (Generaal Hertzog), 18 Nico van Vuuren (Nelspruit), 19 Seprein Hlope (Generaal Hertzog), 20 Dillon Smit (HTS Middelburg), 21 Henson Ngozo (Middelburg), 22 Nyati Nkosinathi (Nelspruit)

Date: Monday, July 13
Venue: Border Rugby Union Stadium, East London
Kick-off: 11.25 (09 .25 GMT)

By Tim Human