 |
| Image © sharksrugby.co.za |
Griquas' plan was clear early on, employing a kicking game and putting the ball in the corners to put pressure on The Sharks, both at the setpiece as well as in attempting to fight their way out of their 22.
Griquas certainly pitched up spoiling for a fight and never conceded an inch where possible. However, The Sharks superior ball possession was telling as they managed to score three first half tries, quick-thinking and sharp attack doing the business as they took a handy lead going into the break.
At 22 – 8 up at half-time, The Sharks were dominating on the scoreboard but hadn't had matters all go their own way, although they certainly created a number of good attacking opportunities, closing three of them out.
Interestingly, the second quarter of the game proved fairly strange with Mr Clean himself, Jacques Botes receiving a visit to the sin bin for reported foul play, and then his team-mates poached two lineout balls in their own 22 when Griquas were looking to add to their first try which had come off a lineout and then the subsequent drive over the line.
Although there was only 15 points in it at the break, The Sharks were dominating despite the best efforts of the home side who were extremely competitive. However, if The Sharks thought it would be one-way traffic in the second half, Griquas felt otherwise. The Sharks battled to close out their opportunities while Griquas started to fight their way back into the game.
Going into the final quarter hour of the game, Naas Olivier booted his side into the lead and with their tails up, the home side not only had a sniff of victory, but could sense that an upset was probable more than possible.
With two tries in the final 10 minutes, Griquas pulled a rabbit out of the hat and despite a late score from Pat Cilliers (pictured) to earn a second bonus point (for losing by less than seven points), only two log points from the game is not what The Sharks would have settled for when they arrived in Kimberley on Friday.
With the second half being won 32-12 by the home side who had trailed at the break, Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche agreed afterwards that, “This was a game of two halves. We didn't look after the ball well enough in the second half and we conceded too many turnovers to Griquas. We came back nicely but didn't do enough to win in the end.”
Naas Olivier, Griquas captain admitted that, “There were some hard words said at half time, but we pulled together in the second half. We stuck together as a team and with some settled combinations from last year, we were able to pull it off.”
Sharks: 34 (22)
Tries: Lwazi Mvovo (2), Steve Meyer, Michael Rhodes, Patric Cilliers
Conversions: Rory Kockott (2), Monty Dumond (1)
Penalties: Rory Kockott (1)
Griquas: 40 (8)
Tries: Ryno Barnes, Steph Roberts, Bjorn Basson (2), Wesley Wilkins
Conversions: Naas Olivier (3)
Penalties: Naas Olivier (3)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARRA)
Teams:
The Sharks:
15. Patrick Lambie, 14. Louis Ludik, 13. Stefan Terblanche (Capt), 12. Riaan Swanepoel, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Steve Meyer, 9. Rory Kockott, 8. Keegan Daniel, 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Jacques Botes, 5. Alistair Hargreaves, 4. Steven Sykes, 3. Wiehahn Herbst, 2. Craig Burden, 1. Patric Cilliers
Replacements: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Eugene van Staden, 18. Anton Bresler, 19. Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20. Charl McLeod, 21. Monty Dumond, 22. Andries Strauss
Griquas:
15. Riaan Viljoen, 14. Rocco Jansen, 13. Wilmaure Louw, 12. Matthew Rosslee, 11. Bjorn Basson, 10. Naas Olivier (Captain), 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Leon Karemaker, 7. Davon Raubenheimer, 6. Wesley Wilkins, 5. Cecil-John Kemp, 4. Hendrik Roodt, 3. Jacobie Adriaanse, 2. Ryno Barnes, 1. Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16. Simon Westraadt, 17. Albertus Buckle, 18. Frikkie Spies, 19. Gerhard Human, 20. Marnus Hugo, 21. Barry Geel, 22. Richard Lawson.
