Daniël Pienaar shock Grey

Match Report

Daniël Pienaar of Uitenhage pulled off a thrilling, narrow victory over Grey of Port Elizabeth which was far greater than a one-point difference would suggest. They won 19-18 after leading 6-5 at half-time.

Daniël Pienaar deserved to win this titanic struggle which was otherwise an even contest. It was an outstanding team effort by the Tigers.

The first half was played mainly between the two 22s though Grey were the ones to build up momentum and were the more dangerous. Unyielding defence by Daniël Pienaar kept matters even. Throughout the boot of flyhalf Louis Kruger was worth gold to his side.

With the score at 9-8 Daniël Pienaar made a mistake in their own half and in the play that followed the ball bounced right for Grey. 15-9 to Grey.

Grey kept the momentum going and forced a penalty which put them 18-9 ahead.

Daniël Pienaar fought back and their forwards kept them in the picture, forcing a penalty which brought the score to 18-12.

Daniël Pienaar climbed in a applied a lot of pressure on Grey after a good run by left wing George Jacobs. When they got a penalty right in front of the posts, eighthman Ryno de Bruyn took everybody by surprise by taking a tap kick and scoring next to the posts. The conversion put Daniël Pienaar ahead 19-18 with five minutes to play. Grey spent the five minutes hammering at the Daniël Pienaar line but great defence kept them out.

Scorers:

For Daniël Pienaar:
Try: Ryno de Bruyn
Con: Louis Kruger(
Pens: Louis Kruger 4

For Grey:
Tries: Mzinoxolo Mpofu, Steven Hunt
Con: JP Barnard
Pens: JP Barnard 2