Cape Town - The Blue Bulls' 2019 Currie Cup hopes appear dead in the water after they were thrashed at home by Griquas on Saturday.
As it happened: Blue Bulls v Griquas
Griquas won 37-15 after leading 20-10 at half-time.
Griquas scored four tries through scrumhalf Zak Burger (2), wing Eduan Keyter and lock Victor Sekekete. Flyhalf George Whitehead was perfect from the kicking tee with all four conversions as well as three penalties for a personal haul of 17 points.
In a match played in front of a paltry 3 337 spectators, the Blue Bulls replied with two tries by wing Rosko Specman and flank Marco van Staden. Flyhalf Manie Libbok added a conversion and penalty.
Griquas picked up four points for their well-deserved victory and moved to the top of the standings with just two matches to play.
The Blue Bulls, with a number of Springboks and Blitzboks stars in the squad, left empty-handed and remained rooted to the bottom of the log.
In next weekend's action, Griquas have a bye, while the Blue Bulls travel to Johannesburg to face the Golden Lions in what is a must-win clash for the men from Pretoria (Saturday, August 10 at 17:15).
Teams:
Blue Bulls
15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Dylan Sage, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Marco van Staden, 6 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Substitutes: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Adri Smit, 20 Wihan Vosloo, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Stedman Gans
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 Gideon van der Merwe, 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 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Chriswill September, 21 Chris Smit, 22 Bjorn Basson, 23 Ruan Kramer