Province leave it late against Griquas in Currie Cup

Western Province left it until late in the match to secure a 33-15 Currie Cup
victory over a stubborn Griquas outfit at Newlands on Saturday evening.

In the process, Province snapped a two-match losing sequence and their four
tries earned them a bonus point for good mesure.

Province dominated first-half play but the half-time score did not reflect that
as Griquas flyhalf Clinton Swart kept chasing down the deficit with a string
of penalties which referee Daniel van Heerden awarded for breakdown, scrumming
and tackling infringements.

The Griquas defence stood up well for most of the half except when they were
reduced to 14 players, and they failed to cope with a Province sortie midway
through the half when scrumhalf Nic Groom scored the only try in the first half.

Griquas’ eighthman Carel Greeff was sin-binned for a high tackle in 23rd
minute.

Groom sprung a blindside attack from a loose scrum and sent fullback Cheslin
Kolbe away in the channel in front of the Railway Stand. Inside centre Jaco
Taute was on hand to take Groom’s inside pass and took play up to a metre
away from the tryline where he was brought down. However, Groom popped up to
snatch a pass and score. Flyhalf Kurt Coleman made the conversion.

By this time, Coleman and the Griquas place-kicker Clinton Swart had a penalty
each.

Even with all the possession they enjoyed and Griquas’ stout defence,
Province’s attacks lacked variation and they could not make an impact
on the scoreboard, other than another Coleman penalty in the 36th minute.

Griquas were quite content to absorb the pressure and occasionally they managed
to shake off Province’s stronghold on the match and transfer play to the
opposition half.

On the half-hour mark, Swart was on target with penalties in quick succession
and this six-point advance closed the score considerably. On the stroke of half-time,
Swart missed a penalty which could have seen his side regain the lead after
Griquas were initially 3-0 up.

Instead, the teams changed ends with Province leading 13-9.

Swart capitalised heavily on Province’s early second-half mistakes by
goaling two penalties which saw Griquas take a 15-13 lead in the 57th minute.

However, the lead was short-lived as a powerful Province forward drive saw flanker
Rynhardt Elstadt scramble over the Griquas tryline for a converted try, which
saw the lead change hands again at 20-15.

Six minutes later Coleman landed another penalty to open an eight-point lead
for Province at 23-15.

Ten minutes from the end, the speedy Province backline moved down the Griquas
defence and the foray which started off on the halfway line ended with Taute
scoring the home side’s second try. The conversion failed 28-15.

Substitute Robert du Preez out-sprinted the Griquas defence after a kick ahead
to bag a bonus-point try which went unconverted four minutes from the end.

Final Score Western Province 33 Griquas 15

Scorers

Western Province
Tries: Nic Groom, Rynhardt Elstadt, Jaco Taute, Robert du Preez
Conversions: Kurt Coleman (2)
Penalties: Coleman (3).

Griquas
Penalties: Clinton Swart (5).

Match Official
Referee: Jaco van Heerden

Teams

Western Province

15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Seabelo
Senatla, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr (c), 7 Rynhardt Elstadt,
6 Chris Cloete, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni,
1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonamb