The GWK Griquas hosted the Sharks in the last match for both teams in the play-off rounds for the Currie Cup of 2009. The Sharks beat the Griquas by 15 points  denying Griquas into the Currie Cup semi’s. Sharks won 45 / 30.

Courtecy of the Sharks Official web site:

In sweltering conditions on the hard, dry field of GWK Park in Kimberley, The Sharks went back to the top of the log with a commanding 45-30 victory over Griquas in their final pool match of The Absa Currie Cup.

They have won the past six matches and like last year, won 12 of their 14 pool matches going into the semis (again, enjoying home ground advantage in the primary play-offs) with captain Stefan Terblanche enjoying a 100% success rate in his tenure at the helm this season.

Next week, The Sharks will host one of the two semifinals, the opposition still to be determined depending on the outcome of the Lions-Western Province game which kicks off immediately after the match, but the quest to win against Griquas in Kimberley, with a bonus point, was ultimately achieved.

The match was playing in a very positive but competitive spirit by both sides who embraced their respective aims going into the game, both needing tries and plenty of them – well a minimum of four to earn the bonus point – and the conditions couldn’t have been more perfect for running rugby, aside from the energy-sapping heat.

The game started off at a helter-skelter pace and within 25 minutes, The Sharks had the bonus point for four tries sewn up thanks to both patient build-ups as well as devastating attack on the counter.

Griquas managed to gain the first strike with a massive drop-goal from fullback Riaan Viljoen inside his own half and then a team-mate was held up short going for the try minutes later. The Sharks struck next as Stefan Terblanche dummied his way over the tryline to set the scoring in motion for his team, with Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen and Bismarck du Plessis all adding to the tally.

Barry Geel managed to pull a try back for the home side to go with the drop and an earlier penalty, but further forays into enemy territory were thwarted by some sound defence from The Sharks.

With the half almost up, Griquas butchered an absolute gimme of a try with a four man overlap and The Sharks led 28-11 going into the break.

Going into the second half, Griquas certainly weren’t going to give up and when Barry Geel went over for his hat-trick and trailing The Sharks by only eight points, Griquas had a sniff of something special, sensing that a couple of bonus points were in reach, and with them, entry into the play-offs.

When Sarel Pretorius scored his team’s fourth try with just over a quarter of the match remaining, and his team trailing by 10 points, the two log points were within their grasp, one of their goals secured and their tails in the air.

However, The Sharks managed to score a late try and then held out against a sustained onslaught from the home side chasing the seven point margin of victory. With time up on the clock, Griquas managed to force the ball over the line, but the TMO ruling did not go their way – not that it would have mattered.

The Sharks will now await the result of the final match to see where they finish up on the log. Should Province win without a bonus point, The Sharks will finish top and host Free State at The Absa Stadium Durban next week, while a Province five-pointer will see the Blue Bulls travel to Durban to take on The Sharks in a re-run of last year’s final.

But for now, The Sharks are back on top of the log and the pressure firmly placed on the shoulders of Western Province. The Sharks will be in the air somewhere over Lesotho when the final score between the Lions and Province comes through and no doubt will be waiting with bated breath for the outcome of that match.

Absa Man of The Match: Adi Jacobs

Crowd: 5500

Points:

Griquas: 1 Drop Goal & 1 Penalty Riaan Viljoen, 2 Conversions Naas livier, 3 Tries Barry Geel, 1 Try Sarel Pretorius

The Sharks: 5 Conversions & 1 Try Ruan Pienaar, 1 Try Stefan Terblanche, 1 Try J P Pietrsen, 1 Try Bismarck du Plessis, 2 Tries Craig Burden, 1 Try Ryan Kankowski

Teams:

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Wesley Wilkins, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Cecil Kemp, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Dries Kruger, 17 Drew van Coller, 18 Brendon Snyman, 19 Rohan Kitshoff/Heinrich Stride, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Gavin Passens.

The Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (captain), 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Juan Hernandez, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 John Smit, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Rory Kockott, 21 Andries Strauss, 22 Waylon Murray.

Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant referees: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Lourens van der Merwe
TMO: Shaun Veldsman