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Cape Town - Griquas stunned Western Province in their Currie Cup encounter at Tafel Lager Park in Kimberley on Friday evening.
As it happened | Griquas v Western Province
With this win, the Griquas have booked their place in the Currie Cup semi-finals.
The home side won 27-23 after leading 14-3 at half-time.
Province came into the match having won four of their last five encounters against the Griquas, but the men from the Northern Cape are proving to be a much tougher nut to crack this season, having already taken care of the Bulls and the Sharks in recent weeks.
And it took them just five minutes to score the game's opening try after a quick tap caught the Province defence napping, allowing the ball to go out wide where Ederies Arendse was waiting to go over for the five-pointer, which soon became seven thanks to flyhalf and captain George Whitehead's accurate boot.
The visitors tried to hit back, but the Griquas were looking committed and organised in defence, making life hard for their opponents, who couldn't find a way to break the line.
An opportunity to go for the posts finally arrived in the 25th minute, and SP Marais gratefully accepted it to reduce the deficit to four points.
The Griquas hit back six minutes before the break, however, as some patient buildup in the opposition 22 finally created the space out wide for Eduan Keyter to score.
Whitehead slotted the conversion to give the home side a deserved 14-3 lead at half-time.
Another solid kick from Marais shortly after the break brought WP back to within six points, but Whitehead soon returned the favour.
The visitors needed another response and they found it with an attacking lineout five metred out. While the Griquas managed to hold up the Province maul, they couldn't stop speedster Seabelo Senatla from going over on the wing after the ball was moved out wide.
It took just six minutes for the hosts to hit back, however, as Arendse picked up his second try of the evening following some more great build-up that saw the ball moved from one wing to the other.
That gave the Griqas a commanding 24-11 lead, which was stretched even further when Whitehead slotted another three-pointer in the 70th minute.
To the visitors' credit, they kept fighting, resulting in a late try from replacement loose forward Nama Xaba and then another from Senatla in the dying seconds, but it was too little too late for Western Province as they slipped to their third defeat in four matches.
On Saturday, August 24, Griquas host the Golden Lions (15:00), while Western Province take on the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein at 17:15.
Scorers:
Griquas
Tries: Eduan Keyter, Ederies Arendse (2)
Conversions: George Whitehead (3)
Penalties: Whitehead (2)
Western Province
Tries: Seabelo Senatla (2), Nama Xaba
Conversion: SP Marais
Penalties: SP Marais (2)
Teams:
Griquas
15 Anthony Volmink, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Michal Haznar, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead (captain), 9 Zak Burger, 8 Neill Jordaan, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Zandre Jordaan, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ le Roux, 1 Khwezi Mona
Substitutes: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Mox Mxoli, 18 Johan Momsen, 19 Gideon van der Merwe, 20 Chriswill September, 21 Chris Smit, 22 Bjorn Basson, 23 Ruan Kramer
Western Province
15 SP Marais, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 JD Schickerling, 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Corne Fourie
Substitutes: 16 Schalk Erasmus, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 David Meihuizen, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Damian Willemse, 23 Edwill van der Merwe
