Griquas win one-point thriller

The Griquas' dream of a place in the Currie Cup semi-finals is alive after they held on for a 34-33 win over the Leopards in on Friday.

The Griquas' dream of a place in the Currie Cup semi-finals is alive and kicking after the men from Kimberley held on for a 34-33 win over the Leopards in on Friday.

The Griquas needed a healthy dose of luck to snatch victory in a nail-biting finish but all five points for the bonus-point win will count at the end of the season – just ask the Cheetahs and Lions who face each other on Saturday knowing they now trail the Griquas by nine points.

It was a case of so close yet so far for the Leopards, who played a wonderfully entertaining brand of rugby all night but were denied victory in the end as Danie Dames failed to hang onto a difficult pass while crossing the try-line in the dying minutes.

The Griquas' win is in small part thanks to their pack's domination at scrum time as it sparked a revival after the Griquas trailed 13-19 at half time.

The Leopards were excellent value for their six-point lead at the break after running it from anywhere and everywhere. The team from the North West might be short on star players but they aren't short on eagerness to give the ball plenty of air.

The Griquas fell into the trap of being dragged into a helter-skelter game of end-to-end rugby when they could well have relied of their fatties' superiority to grind the Leopards down.

Cecil Dumond gave the Leopards an early lead with a couple of penalties but the home side where made to pay for their high-risk rugby when the Griquas turned to ball over and Naas Olivier found Trompie Nontshinga in acres of space out wide and the wing could coast over.

The Leopards weren't to be dissuaded from their attacking mindset and it bore fruit when Rudi Mathee ran straight over Dougie Hellmuth to put Bom Samaai free. Samaai turned on the gas to finish under the posts.

The Griquas were struggling to secure possession in the line-outs and with Dumond continuing to bisect the posts on the other end, the Leopards were ahead 19-13 at half-time.

A change of tactics from the Griquas after the break immediately paid dividends as the men from Kimberley left it up to their pack to assert their dominance – for a while at least. First they won a penalty from five metre scrum and then mauled their way over the line from the ensuing line-out.

Olivier's conversion gave the Griquas a one-point lead.

But the visitors' advantage would be short lived as the Dumond edged the Leopards back in front a minute later.

The Griquas were far more accurate in everything they did the second half and they restored their lead with half and hour to play when some neat off-loading from Jacques Lombard and Olivier put Barry Geel through for the visitors' third try.

The Leopards kept the entertainment coming thick and fast, drawing the scores level with twenty minutes to play as Danie Dames rounded off a flowing move in the right corner, dragging two defenders over the line with him.

Fate rolled some cruel dice for the Leopards on 66 minutes when Bjorn Basson hacked a loose pass ahead from deep inside his own half and then had the pace to follow it up a score the Griquas bonus-point try under the posts, but more importantly gave the visitors a seven-point lead.

The Leopards however continued to fight and Dumond narrowed the gap to a single point with his six and seventh penalties to set up a grandstand finish in the final seven minutes.

It was all Leopards in the home straight and Dames, who had played an otherwise excellent game, will long be haunted by the memory of not being able to hang onto the final pass of Leopards' blitz attack that would have won the game.

It wasn't to be though and the Griquas will head back to Kimberley with a full house of points.

The Scorers

For Leopards:
Tries: Samaai, Dames
Con: Dumond
Pens: Dumond 7

For Griquas:
Tries: Nontshinga, Barnes, Geel, Basson
Cons: Olivier 3
Pens: Viljoen, Olivier

Leopards: 15 Russell Jeacocks, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Basil de Doncker, 11 Bom Samaai, 10 Cecil Dumond, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Christo van Niekerk, 7 Thabo Mamojele, 6 Palm Koch, 5 Draad Linde, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 Philip Lemmer, 2 Pellow van der Westhuizen, 1 Nardus Lombard.
Replacement: 16 Gavin Williamson, 17 Os van der Walt, 18 Bennie Adams, 19 Riaan Swanepoel, 20 Jean Tiedt, 21 Clayton Durand, 22 Nicky Kritzinger.

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Dougie Hellmuth, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (c), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Albertus Buckle, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Zane Kilian.
Replacements:16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Ruaan du Preez, 18 Nolan Clark, 19 Sean Plaatjies, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Jaco Bekker, 22 Gavin Passens.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan