Griquas put Blue Bulls to the sword

Francois Brummer: Scored 24 points

Griquas stayed in contention for a Currie Cup play-off place with a deserved 49-34 victory over the Blue Bulls in Kimberley on Saturday.

This was Pote Human's side's third successive win over one of the tournament's more fancied teams after their recent triumphs over the Golden Lions and the Sharks.

The home side raced into a 26-0 lead after 30 minutes with their first try coming after only 40 seconds thanks to a piece of individual brilliance by left wing Rocco Jansen.

The flyer was put into space inside the Bulls' half and did well to put in a chip kick over a defender's head before regathering his kick and scoring.

Griquas added two further tries in the half through Walter Venter and Francois Brummer, who also added two penalties, a conversion and a drop goal before half time.

Brummer's boot proved to be his former team's undoing, and he finished the match with a 24-point haul through two further penalties and a conversion.

Jansen played a major role in Venter's try by launching a counter-attack from deep inside his half before passing inside to Wesley Wilkins who offloaded to Venter.

The Bulls fought back bravely and scored two tries before half-time through Rudy Paige and Willie Wepener, which Louis Fouchè converted, and although they were trailing 29-14 at the break, they still fancied their chances of claiming a win.

This seemed more likely when Fouchè landed a penalty and former Springbok wing Akona Ndungane scored a try in the 46th minute to narrow Griquas' lead to seven points.

Ndugane plucked a high ball from the air before beating the home side's cover defence in a race to the try-line.

Despite that effort, the Bulls struggled to get into their rhythm and Griquas made them pay for their indiscretions with two tries, in the space of five minutes, from Jean Stemmet and Marnus Schoeman.

In the 69th minute Bok discard Werner Kruger powered his way over the try-line, to clinch his side's bonus point for scoring four tries, but Griquas wing Richard Lawson put the final nail in the Pretoria outfit's coffin with a try in the 76th minute.

The Bulls scored a consolation try in injury time when CJ Stander was rewarded, after taking a quick tap penalty from close to the hosts' try-line, but it was too little too late and this defeat leaves the Bulls firmly entrenched at the bottom of the table, while the win moves Griquas, provisionally, to joint top spot in the standings.

The scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Jansen, Venter, Brummer, Stemmet, Schoeman, Lawson
Cons: Brummer 2
Pens: Brummer 4
Drop goal: Brummer

For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Page, Wepener, Ndungane, Kruger, Stander
Cons: Fouchè 3
Pen: Fouchè

The teams:

Griquas: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Wesley Wilkins (c), 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Rynhardt Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Matt Dobson, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Ivann Espag, 18 Frikkie Spies, 19 Justin Downey, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 Richard Lawson.

Blue Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Louis Fouchè, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Dewald Potgieter (c), 7 CJ Stander, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Cornell Hess, 19 Jean Cook, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Lionel Cronjè, 22 Jan Serfontein.

Referee: Jaco Peyper