Griquas sneak Kimberley cliffhanger

The Griquas took a step closer top the Currie Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a nail-biting 36-31 win over the Lions in Kimberley.

The Griquas took a step closer top the Currie Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a nail-biting 36-31 win over the Lions in Kimberley.

Three second-half tries and a 100 per cent kicking record from fly-half Naas Olivier were enough for the home side to edge out a very closely fought game.

The Lions will rue their poor discipline as a string of early penalties proved to be the difference between the sides in the end.

A brilliant try from Griquas scrum-half Sarel Pretorius in the dying minutes proved to be the knock out blow as the teams exchanged the lead a couple of times in the second half.

With the Bulls demolishing Boland in Wellington, it's difficult to see how the Lions could possibly make the play-offs now.

With Bafana Bafana hosting Madagascar up the road, Kimberley's rugby fans gathered around the rock-hard field of the local high school

The Lions were on the scoreboard faster than you could spell Hoërskool Diamantveld as winger Johan Jackson found his way into the corner, bringing up a cloud of dust dived into the end zone.

Naas Olivier pulled six points back for the hosts with two penalties in quick succession before the Lions opened the gap again on the quarter-hour mark as loose forward Derick Minnie found his way over the whitewash after some solid build up play from the visitors.

But just as they had done before, the Lions almost immediately conceded a penalty within Olivier's range to allow the Griquas straight back into the game.

The opposing fly-halves exchanged another penalty each to keep the three-point gap intact and it was anyone's game as the teams headed for a pep talk with the Lions 15-12 up at the break.

The trend continued in the second period as first Olivier drew the scores level and then Kruger put his side back in front from the kicking tee.

But with the home side dominating the possession, it was just a question of time before a crack was found Lions' defence.

After a long period of sustained pressure as the Griquas lay siege to the Lions try-line, Trompie Nontshinga was at the end of the Griquas movement as they spread the ball wide to the unguarded touchline.

The Lions hardly had enough time to dust themselves off before Olivier bust through the to expose Earl Rose, who was out of position, and scored under the posts.

The Lions knuckled down and managed to keep their hands on the ball with a some decent inter-passing. The Griquas were feeling the pressure and saw Sarel Pretorius sent to the sin bin when he was forced to kill the ball to prevent the Lions from scoring.

They visitors then made it a one-point game when Alwyn Hollenbach crashed over as the Lions exploited their extra man to create an overlap.

Kruger put the Lions back in the lead with ten minutes left on the clock, setting up a grand-stand finish.

The fat lady was yet to sing however. Home full-back Riaan Viljoen broke out wide before feeding Pretorius, the jinked and dummied his way through a mine field of defenders before stretching out an arm to score to the delight of the local fans.

The Scorers

For Griquas:
Tries: Nontshinga, Olivier, Pretorius
Cons: Olivier 3
Pens: Olivier 5

For the Lions:
Tries: Jackson, Minnie, Hollenbach
Cons: Kruger 2
Pens: Kruger 4

Yellow cards: Pretorius (Griquas – 60th min – killing ball)

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Trompie Nontshinga, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Dewald Pretorius, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (c), Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Heinrich Stride, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Rayno Barnes, 1 Zane Killian.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Nolan Clarke, 19 Sean Plaatjies, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Gavin Passens.

Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Johan Jackson, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Derick Minnie, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (c), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Wouter Moore, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Walter Venter, 22 Pieter Engelbrecht.

Referee: Marius Jonker