Keyter scores four as Griquas beat ill-disciplined Lions

CURRIE CUP REPORT: Wing Eduan Keyter scored four tries as Griquas beat the Lions 41-31 in their Currie Cup Round Six encounter at Ellis Park on Wednesday.

The bonus-point win – two weeks after they beat Western Province in Cape Town – shot Griquas to the top of the Currie Cup log.

Three of Keyter’s four tries came after the home team were reduced to 14 men when EW Viljoen (fullback) was red carded for a dangerous tackle in the 54th minute.

To add to their woes, Duncan Matthews (replacement back) was sin-binned for a reckless clean at a ruck, which mean the Lions played the last eight minutes with only 13 men.

The visitors failed to capitalise late in the match, but it didn’t matter as they already had the win in the bag at that stage, mainly thanks to them taking their opportunities, strong defence and hitting back by scoring almost every time they conceded points.

On the contrary, the Lions enjoyed the upper hand upfront, but could not make it count, while their discipline also let them down, although they managed to score four tries for a bonus point.

The men from the Northern Cape led on the scoreboard for all but two minutes and 21 seconds in the first half after Gideon van der Merwe (flank) pounced on a loose ball in the Lions’ 22 to dot down for their first try almost straight from the kick-off.

Experienced flyhalf George Whitehead added the extras and one penalty goal, but missed three more penalty attempts, which would have put a lot of pressure on the hosts.

Instead, the Lions – who dominated the possession stakes in the first half – hit back with tries by their nippy scrumhalf Morne van den Berg, from a quick-tap penalty, and Sti Sithole (prop) after some pressure on attack, to take a 12-10 lead after 34 minutes.

Two minutes later, Griquas were in the lead again, this time by 17-12 after Keyter went over for his first try, which is how it stayed until the break.

The second half started just like the first, with the Joburgers’ centre Burger Odendaal going over 14 second after the restart, but this time the TMO ruled there was a knock-on and the try was disallowed.

Six minutes later though, the Lions were back in the lead after Rabz Maxwane (wing) scored after a commanding maul, with Jaden Hendrikse (flyhalf) adding his second conversion of the afternoon.

Despite a well-worked try by Ruan Dreyer (prop) and a late five-pointer by Travis Gordon (replacement loose forward), that was it for the hosts, as Whitehead added another penalty goal to his tally, before Viljoen’s red card and Keyter’s burst of tries – in the 55th, 66th and 70th minutes – all but secured the win for the visitors.

Man of the match: The award goes to Griquas flyer Eduan Keyter who scored four tries in the match. He gave the Lions plenty of problems out wide with his skills and pace.

The scorers:

For Lions:

Tries: Van den Berg, Sithole, Maxwane, Dreyer, Gordon

Cons: Hendrikse 3

For Griquas:

Tries: Van der Merwe, Keyter 4

Cons: Whitehead 5

Pens: Whitehead 2

Red card: EW Viljoen (Lions, 54 - foul play, dangerous tackle)

Yellow card: Duncan Matthews (Lions, 73 - foul play, reckless cleanout)

Teams:

Lions: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Stean Pienaar, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Sibusiso Sangweni, 6 MJ Pelser, 5 Reinhardt Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Sti Sithole.

Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 FP Pelser, 20 Travis Gordon, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Fred Zeilinga, 23 Duncan Matthews.

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 Adre Smith, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Mox Mxoli.

Replacements: 16 HJ Luus, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Sibabalo Qom, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Ederies Arendse.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge

Assistant referees: Local appointments

TMO: Egon Seconds

Additional source and photo: SA Rugby