Griquas left it late, with Riaan Viljoen scoring the second of his tries two minutes from time, to secure his side a fortuitous 29-20 win over the Leopards on Friday.
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However, the men from Kimberley were given the fright of their lives in this Currie Cup fixture on home soil, as the Leopard were leading going into the final quarter and still trailing by just two points before Viljoen’s late score.
While it was certainly not a spectacular match from Griquas’ point of view, they will gladly accept the points.
And by collecting the bonus-point win, Griquas kept alive their play-off dreams.
The visitors made their intentions clear from the outset, as Walter Venter opened the Leopards’ account in the sixth minute with a try – converted by Clayton Durand.
It took Griquas 14 minutes to get on the board, when Viljoen scored the first of his two tries – going over in the corner after a bullocking run from Ryno Barnes. Flyhalf and captain Naas Olivier missed the conversion, leaving the home team two points down (5-7) in the visitors.
Griquas wasted no time in hitting the front – Johan van Deventer scoring his team’s second try. From the restart the home team launched a counter attack through Wilmaure Louw, who was stopped a metre short – with Van Deventer on hand to take the ball and dive over. This time Olivier added the conversion – 12-7.
However, the Leopards again showed they meant business – Venter scoring his second try with a brilliant show-and-go. Durand added the conversion and with the first quarter coming to an end the visitors held a 14-12 lead.
In the 28th minute Griquas captain Naas Olivier put his team back in the lead with a penalty – 15-14.
Griquas thought they had stretched their lead, just on the half-hour mark, after a superb run by Bjorn Basson, who offloaded to Louw, but it was called a forward pass.
Right on half-time the Leopards regained the lead, a Durand penalty making it 17-15.
The Leopard deserved their slender half-time lead, as they were playing most of the rugby.
Two minutes into the second half and Durand had stretched his team’s lead to 20-15 with his second penalty.
That was to be their last score of the match, although they held on to the bitter end and could easily have won.
With the final quarter approaching, Justin Downey scored Griquas’ third try. It came after a great maul and Griquas then hitting it up with several phases, before spreading it wide for Downey to go over in the corner. Olivier’s conversion made it 22-20.
Griquas scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius thought he had scored the bonus-point try in the 71st minute, but it was ruled that he was held up.
The Leopards had a chance to reclaim the lead minutes later, when they won a turnover and sent it wide – where Jovan Bowles and Walter Venter combined well. They were stopped about 15 metres out, but won a penalty – which Durand fluffed.
Then, with just two minutes to go, Viljoen sealed the win for Griquas with his second try. Griquas stormed ahead after a monster maul, with Davon Raubenheimer surging forward. The ball was then spun wide to Viljoen, who cut inside for the try. Olivier’s conversion made it 29-20 at the end.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Van Deventer, Viljoen 2, Downey
Cons: Olivier 3
Pens: Olivier
For the Leopards:
Tries: Venter 2
Cons: Durand 2
Pens: Durand 2