The Fidelity ADT Lions proved to be the stronger team on the day, earning a hard-fought 36-28 win over the Suzuki Griquas in their Carling Currie Cup game at the Suzuki Stadium in Kimberley on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors outscored the hosts six tries to two to bounce back perfectly from their first loss of the season a week earlier at home against the Sharks in an away win at a ground that is notoriously tricky to get a win.
The Lions got off to a flying start as they attacked the Griquas 22m, where flank Renzo du Plessis received a short pass into a gap and ran in to score under the posts, converted by flyhalf Sam Francis for a 5-0 lead after five minutes.
𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐨 𝐝𝐮 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬! 😤
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 4, 2024
The Flanker dots down his second try of the game with this beautiful run 👇💪#CarlingCurrieUp pic.twitter.com/nYgXVQiD0N
The Griquas however hit back with a quick double score, the first three minutes later when some fantastic interplay saw a number of offloads leading to outside centre Zane Bester going over for the converted score.
In the 14th minute with the Lions on the attack at the Griquas tryline, the ball was lost and the hosts counter-attacked from behind their own line, with fullback Cameron Hufke receiving the ball and sprinting away to score an amazing try, while flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela added the extras for a 14-7 lead.
It was then the Lions turn to power back with three tries in a five-minute spell, the first from a massive lineout maul from five metres out rumbling over and captain Jaco Visagie dotting down.
Straight from the kick-off the visitors attacked into the Griquas 22m and after a number of picks and goes prop Morgan Naude crashed over, converted by fullback Gianni Lombard as they moved into a 19-14 lead.
The Lions were not done and added their fourth try of the game in the 30th minute as the flanks showed their skills, Jarod Cairns making the break and offloading to Du Plessis to brush Hufke’s attempted tackle off and go over for his second, which gave them a 24-12 lead that they took into halftime.
It was the perfect start to the second half for the Lions as they started an attack from deep in their own half, with the ball going through the hands and Cairns finishing things off for another unconverted score to put them 29-14 up after 50 minutes.
But the Griquas showed superb fight by hitting back with two tries, the first seeing them again showing off their attacking prowess to release left wing Connor Mahoney away for a converted score.
In the 60th minute, they were in again, with an attack in the Lions' 22m seeing replacement back Tertius Kruger receive the ball, bounce off a tackler and dive over under the poles, with Dobela’s conversion making it a one-point game at 29-28.
Lions scrumhalf Nico Steyn then scored a crucial try in the 65th minute to give them breathing room, after an attack onto the hosts' 22m seeing him pick the ball up at the breakdown and snipe through to score.
Replacement back Zander du Plessis slotted the extras to give them an eight-point buffer, which proved enough as they saw out a hard-fought win over the final 15 minutes.
Scorers
Griquas: Tries - Zane Bester, Cameron Hufke, Connor Mahoney, Tertius Kruger; Conversions - Lubabalo Dobela (4)
Lions: Tries - Renzo du Plessis (2), Jaco Visagie, Morgan Naude, Jarod Cairns, Nico Steyn; Conversions - Sam Francis, Gianni Lombard, Zander du Plessis