Golden Lions edge Griquas in 13-try thriller
The Golden Lions got their campaign back on track when they claimed a 48-43 victory over Griquas in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Both sides deserve credit for making this the entertaining spectacle although, as the scoreline suggests, the game will never be used in defensive coaching manuals.
The home side got the rub of the green in the end and eventually outscored their opponents seven tries to six with Madosh Tanbwe leading the way with a brace.
The first half was a thrilling affair which yielded seven tries and the Lions opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute when James Venter crossed the whitewash after a rolling maul deep inside Griquas' 22.
The vistors struck back shortly afterwards when Christiaan Meyer crossed the whitewash after spotting a gap close to the hosts' try-line but the Lions replied via a Jacques Nel try, which Shaun Reynolds converted, in the 11th minute.
Griquas did not take that lying down though and Meyer soon crossed for his second try after gathering a well-timed offload from Tertius Kruger deep inside the home side's half.
The topsy-turvy nature of this match continued when Jarryd Sage weaved his way past three defenders before crossing for his side's third try and the Lions soon had their fourth-five pointer when Aphiwe Dyanti went over in the left-hand corner in the 27th minute.
Griquas soon narrowed the gap when George Whitehead slotted a penalty in the 32nd minute and shortly afterwards he scored his side's fourth try after intercepting a wayward pass from Dillon Smit.
The hosts finished the half stronger, however, and Van der Walt scored their fifth try just before half-time after shrugging off three tackles on his way over the try-line.
The Lions were fastest out of the blocks after the break, and Tambwe got the first of his two tries in the 47th minute after combining brilliantly with Van der Walt and three minutes later, the speedy wing was rewarded with his second five-pointer after beating several defenders on a barnstorming run.
Griquas upped the ante in a bid to haul in the visitors and finished the match stronger. Ederies Arendse and Enver Brandt crossed for tries midway through the half, and when Renier Botha scored their sixth five-pointer in the 76th the match was evenly poised with the Lions leading 45-43.
The Lions did not panic though and Reynolds sealed their win when he slotted a penalty in injury time.
The scorers:
Fpr Golden Lions:
Tries: Venter, Nel, Sage, Dyanti, Van der Walt, Tambwe 2
Cons: Reynolds 5
Pen: Reynolds
For Griquas:
Tries: Meyer 2, Whitehead, Arendse, Brandt, Botha
Cons: Whitehead 5
Pen: Whitehead
Golden Lions: 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Shaun Reynolds, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Ryan Kankowski (c), 7 Robert Kruger, 6 James Venter, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Justin Ackerman, 2 Pieter Jansen, 1 Sithembiso Sithole
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Bobby de Wee, 19 Hacjivah Dayimani, 20 Bradley Thain, 21 Anthony Volmink, 22 Nicolaas Hanekom
Griquas: 15 Eric Zana, 14 Adriaan Coertzen (c), 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Enver Brandt, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Jonathan Janse van Rensburg, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Pieter Janse van Vuren, 4 Floris Pelser, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Marius Fourie, 1 Liam Hendricks
Replacements: 16 Abraham Le Roux, 17 Devon Martinus, 18 Mzwanele Zito, 19 RJ Liebenberg, 20 Renier Botha, 21 Ederies Arendse, 22 Jonathan Francke
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant Referees: Jaco Pretorius, Vusi Msibi
TMO: Marius Jonker