Fourteen-man Pumas keep Griquas winless
MATCH REPORT: Jimmy Stonehouse's Pumas held out in the face of a determined and desperate Griquas side to win the Currie Cup Round two match on Friday.
*As it happened: Pumas v Griquas
The Pumas scored three tries for the 22-17 win in Nelspruit on Friday.
The home side stamped their authority from the outset with entertaining phases of play on attack and a dominant performance in the scrums, and this paid off with a 15-7 halftime lead.
The second half, however, was tightly fought as Griquas showed their fighting spirit until the dying minutes, but in the end a penalty try awarded to the Pumas proved to be the difference as each team crossed the tryline twice.
Ginter Smuts opened up the scoring for the Pumas in the 11th minute with a penalty, and they earned a penalty try nine minutes later from a powerful scrum to take a 10-0 lead.
Griquas hit back minutes later with a try by wing Eduan Keyter, who received an accurate pass from a ruck at pace and broke through the defence to crash over, and the successful conversion by Tinus de Beer saw them reduce their deficit to only three points.
The Pumas responded well with Luther Obi finishing off a fantastic try in the 33rd minute as he dashed over in the corner to extend their lead to 15-7.
The Griquas, however, earned the first points in the second half thanks to De Beer’s second penalty goal, which reduced the gap on the scoreboard to five points.
Both teams displayed creativity on attack in an attempt to breach the defence as the match progressed, but it was the hosts who earned the first try of the half with replacement flank Daniel Maartens dashing his way to the tryline from an opposition error to stretch their lead to 22-10.
Pumas replacement prop Wikus Groenewald received a yellow card soon after for cynical play, and that paved the way for Keyter to score his second try with three minutes to play as he gathered an innovative crossfield grubber kick, which De Beer converted to close the gap on the scoreboard to 22-17.
With neither team able to add to the score as the clock wound down, the Pumas sealed their first Currie Cup win, although Griquas walked away with a bonus point for going down by less than seven points.
Man of the match: Devon Williams was impressive he dictated the match and adjusted really well at flyhalf. However, our nod goes to Pumas captain Le Roux Roets. The lock was impressive on return – showing great leadership and making big tackles.
The scorers:
For Pumas:
Tries: Penalty try, Obi, Maartens
Con: Smuts
Pen: Smuts
For Griquas:
Tries: Keyter 2
Cons: De Beer 2
Pen: De Beer
Yellow card: Wikus Groenewald (Pumas, 74 - cynical foul)
Teams:
Pumas: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Devon Williams, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Daniel Maartens, 6 Phumzile Maqondwana, 5 Darrien Landsberg , 4 Le Roux Roets (captain) , 3 Ruan Kramer, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Dewald Maritz.
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Ignatius Prinsloo, 18 Brandon Valentyn, 19 Ewart Potgieter, 20 Chriswill September, 21 Tiaan Botes, 22 Wayne van der Bank, 23 Liam Hendricks.
Griquas: 15 James Verity-Amm, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Zak Burger (captain), 8 Johan Momsen, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Hendrick Luus, 1 Nqobisizwe Mxoli.
Replacements – from: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 John-Roy Jenkinson, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Carl Els, 21 Theo Maree, 22 Andre Swarts, 23 Enver Brandt, 24 Zandre Jordaan, 25 Ewan Coetzee, 26 Ashlon Davids.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Paul Mente and Morne Ferreira
TMO: Willie Vos
Source: SA Rugby
Photo credit: @JohanOrtonPhotography