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Cape Town - Griquas stunned the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup encounter in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The men from Kimberley, who earlier in the week also upset Western Province, produced a spirited second half performance to run out 30-25 winners.
The Cheetahs had led 17-6 at half-time but were upended in the second period by their determined neighbours.
Griquas led 23-20 heading into the final five minutes before a try in the corner from Cheetahs wing Makazole Mapimpi seemingly left their dream in tatters.
But Griquas refused to give up and replacement loose forward De Wet Kruger barged over for his second try of the afternoon with less than two minutes left.
Replacement flyhalf George Whitehead converted from the corner to give Griquas a five-point lead.
There was still time left for one more play and when Griquas failed to handle the subsequent restart, the Cheetahs had a chance to steal the game at the death.
However, the Griquas defence held firm to hand the defending champions their first Currie Cup loss of the season.
The Cheetahs remain atop the standings with three wins from four but can be overtaken by the Sharks, who tackle the Golden Lions in Johannesburg later on Saturday (19:30).
Griquas, meanwhile, moved up to third spot following their second consecutive win.
In next weekend’s action, the Cheetahs travel to Pretoria to face the Blue Bulls (Saturday, August 19), while Griquas host the Pumas in Kimberley (Sunday, August 20).
Scorers:
Cheetahs
Tries: Niell Jordaan (2), Makazole Mapimpi
Conversions: Ryno Eksteen (2)
Penalties: Eksteen, Clayton Blommetjies
Griquas
Tries: Andre Swarts, De Wet Kruger (2)
Conversions: Swarts (2), George Whitehead
Penalties: Swarts (2), Whitehead
Teams:
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rosco Speckman, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Ryno Benjamin, 11, Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Ryno Eksteen, 9 Zee Mkhabela, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Henco Venter 6 Niell Jordaan (captain), 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Armand Koster, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2, Jacques du Toit, 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes: 16 Ox Nche, 17 Joseph Dweba, 18 Rynier Bernado, 19 Chris Dry, 20 Juan-Philip Smith 21 Sergeal Petersen 22 Malcolm Jaer
Griquas
15 Eric Zana, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Adriaan Coertzen (captain), 10 Andre Swarts, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Kevin Kaba, 7 Shaun McDonald, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 FP Pelser, 4 Wandile Putuma, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Wilmar Arnoldi, 1 Devon Martinus.
Substitutes: 16 AJ Le Roux, 17 Stephan Kotze, 18 Sintu Manjezi, 19 De Wet Kruger, 20 Renier Botha, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Christopher Bosch
