Griquas stun WP in Cape Town
CURRIE CUP REPORT: The Griquas recorded a nail-biting 30-28 win over the Western Province at Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday.
It was a frustrating day for Western Province, who led for most of the match, but were left disappointed at the death.
Aside from the defeat, the WP also have an injury concern as veteran prop Ali Vermaak left the field with a serious-looking injury.
The home side started on the front foot, with the forwards mauling from the 22 for hooker JJ Kotze to crash over for the opening try.
The visitors responded to level the scores, but it was not long before Kotze was over for his second try from another powerful maul.
Griquas then scored 10 unanswered points to take the lead briefly after Province replacement Lee-Marvin Mazibuko was shown a yellow card.
However, Western Province had the final say in the first half, with fullback Sergeal Petersen diving on the ball to score and give his side a 22-17 advantage at half-time.
They were first to score in the second half through a Swiel penalty, but the visitors responded with three points of their own from Whitehead.
The two kickers traded penalties again later in the half, which meant that Western Province went into the final 10 minutes with a 28-23 lead.
However, a try after the hooter from Griquas lock Cameron Lindsay saw the visitors snatch a dramatic victory at the death.
Man of the match: It was a very entertaining match however our nod goes to Tim Swiel, who dictated much of the play and got his team in the right areas with his kicks.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Kotze 2, Petersen
Cons: Swiel 2
Pens: Swiel 3
For Griquas:
Tries: Davids, Kasende, Lindsay
Cons: Whitehead 3
Pens: Whitehead 3
Yellow card: Lee-Marvin Mazibuko (Western Province, 32 - Offside)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Rikus Pretorius, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Johan du Toit, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 David Meihuizen, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Niel Otto, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Abner van Reenen.
Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 7 Hanru Sirgel, 6 Gideon Van Der Merwe, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Mox Mxoli
Replacements: 16 HJ Luus, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Jeandre Leonard, 20 Sibabalo Qoma, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Tinus De Beer, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Tijde Visser, 25 Luyolo Dapula, 26 Christopher Hollis
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Assistant Referees: Local
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni
Source: @WP_Rugby