Olivier kicks Griquas home

Fly-half Naas Olivier was the driving force behind the Griquas' 41-27 win over the Leopards in Potchefstroom on Friday.

Fly-half Naas Olivier was the driving force behind the Griquas' 41-27 win over the Leopards in Potchefstroom on Friday.

Olivier scored a try and kicked seven goals from seven in the win, five conversions and two penalties as the visitors just had too much running for their game hosts.

The Leopards stormed out of the blocks and into an early ten-point lead, courtesy of a try from scrum-half Michael Bondesio and a conversion and penalty from fly-half Niell Jacobs.

Olivier pulled back a penalty after 25 minutes, but it was in the run-up to the break when the Griquas landed the killer blows.

Three tries, Olivier's, following one from Bjorn Basson and lock Frikkie Spies helped the visitors into a 24-10 half-time lead, which proved just a little too much for the home side to claw back.

Bondesio grabbed his second try and Clayton Durand converted and aded a penalty to bring the Leopards back to within four, but Sarel Pretorius' interception try killed the game off.

Basson putthe Griquas further ahead with his second, but there was time for a consolation from Palm Koch ten minutes into injury time, giving the score a fairer look for the Leopards.

The scorers:

For the Leopards:
Tries: Bondesio 2, Kock
Cons: Jacobs, Durand 2
Pens: Jacobs, Durand

For the Griquas:
Tries: Basson 2, Spies, Olivier, Pretorius
Cons: Olivier 5
Pens: Olivier 2

Leopards: 15 Danie Dames, 14 Deon Scholtz, 13 Jovan Bowles, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Dumisane Matyeshana, 10 Niell Jacobs, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Riaan Swanepoel, 7 Palm Koch (c), 6 Danie Crous, 5 Edrich Linde, 4 Anthonie Gronum, 3 Barend van der Walt, 2 Gavin Williamson, 1 Divan Kotzé.
Replacements: 16 Marthinus van der Westhuizen, 17 Johan Coetzee, 18 Bradley Mockford, 19 Christo van Niekerk, 20 Theo van Wyk, 21 Clayton Durand/Cecil Dumond, 22 Mohammed Samaai.

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Richard Lawson, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier (c), 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Wesley Wilkins, 6 Ruan Kitshoff, 5 Cecil Kemp, 4 Frikkie Spies, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Steph Roberts
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Jean Botha, 18 Michael Passaportis, 19 Gerhard Human, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 Matthew Rosslee, 22 Rocco Jansen.

Referee:Jason Jaftha