The Suzuki Griquas went top of the Carling Currie Cup with a comfortable 31-19 (halftime 13-7) bonus-point victory over the Fidelity ADT Lions at the Windhoek Draught Park in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon.
The home side scored four tries through wingers Gershwin Wehr and Dylan Maart as well as man of the match Bobby Alexander and debutant hooker Janus Venter. The score could have been more favourable to the hosts with flyhalf George Whitehead missing three of the four conversions, but did manage 11 points with the boot, scoring a conversion, two penalties and a late drop-goal.
The Lions had been poor all afternoon, handing possession to the Griquas on multiple occasions especially during lineout time with the visitors missing their jumpers on countless occasions, but did manage to cross the line three times through flanker Thando Biyela and their captain, Jarod Cairns with replacement Exauce Tshiamala crossing the line late on after another good break from centre Rhynhardt Jonker.
The Griquas came out of the blocks with real intent. In the 9th minute, a bursting run from centre Mnombo Zwelendaba - who was immense all afternoon - exposed poor Lions handling, and when the ball moved left, Wehr was on the end of it to score his fourth try of the campaign. Whitehead pulled the conversion wide.
Three minutes later the Lions were in even deeper trouble. Dylan Maart burst down the right, the ball found Alexander in support, and when it came back to Maart he forced his way overwith Whitehead missing the extra two points, but Griquas were already in control at 10-0 and barely fifteen minutes had been played.
The Lions did threaten. Jonker - their most dangerous ball-carrier all day - opened eyes with a brilliant midfield break in the 16th minute, threading through the Griquas defense and feeding centre Likhona Finca. But Wehr read the inside ball perfectly, intercepted, and cleared comfortably from his own in-goal area. The opportunity went abegging which was the story of the Lions' afternoon.
A Whitehead penalty in the 29th minute stretched the lead to 13-0 before Biyela gave the Lions a lifeline - bursting through a gap in the Griquas defense shortly before halftime to score, with flyhalf Sam Francis converting. But even that came after a period where the Lions squandered multiple attacking positions through handling errors and poor lineout execution. The halftime score of 13-7 flattered the visitors considerably, with the Griquas having forced fifteen turnovers to the Lions' three.
The Lions barely had time to catch their breath after the restart before Whitehead knocked over two penalties in quick succession - the second coming after referee Stephan Geldenhuys had a word with Lions skipper Cairns about his side's discipline at the ruck. Kimberley was starting to feel very far from home.
A powerful driving maul in the 55th minute saw debutant hooker Venter crash over to score on his first appearance in Griquas colours - one of those moments that make provincial rugby special. Then, five minutes later, Griquas produced the try of the match. Zwelendaba chipped ahead cleverly, centre Zane Bester collected and kicked cross-field with Alexander arriving at full pace to dot down before the deadball line. Whitehead finally nailed a conversion and the game was effectively done at 31-12.
Bester was shown a yellow card in the 64th minute for offside, which gave the Lions some hope, and Cairns barged over shortly after with Francis converting. But even with a man advantage, the Lions could not get their lineout functioning. They lost four in a row during the final ten minutes - an extraordinary collapse at set piece level. Whitehead punished them with a composed drop-goal from inside the 22m area with three minutes remaining. Tshiamala's late consolation try after another enterprising Jonker break meant nothing by then.
SCORERS
Suzuki Griquas – Tries: Gershwin Wehr, Dylan Maart, Janus Venter, Bobby Alexander; Conversion: George Whitehead; Penalties: Whitehead (2); Drop-goal: Whitehead.
Fidelity ADT Lions – Tries: Thando Biyela, Jarod Cairns, Exauce Tshiamala; Conversions: Sam Francis (2).