Griquas shock Sharks in Kimberley

Griquas pulled off the first major upset of the season when they beat the Sharks 23-22 in their Currie Cup Round Four match in Kimberley on Saturday. Griquas raced into an early 14-0 lead and then held on for the win, despite a late 10-try rush by the Sharks.

Winning captain: Gareth Krause

This loss means that no team are unbeaten in the competition - after the Cheetahs had also lost (to Western Province) on Saturday.

It will also again raise question marks over the wisdom of coach Dick Muir's dual squad system - no matter what he or his players say, it certainly cost them dearly on Saturday.

But back to Kimberley. Last year at this venue it took a last-gasp Ruan Pienaar score to overhaul Griquas and win the game. On Saturday the young scrum-half against scored the final points, but his touchline conversion was not enough to make up the deficit.

In fact the hero for Griquas was none other than former Sharks fly-half Herkie Kruger - playing at inside centre - who calmly slotted a 60-metre penalty with five minutes to go to give the home team a two-score (23-15) lead, after the visitors had clawed their way back into the game with a Pienaar penalty just four minutes earlier.

But the eight-point lead that came from Kruger's penalty proved decisive.
 
On a beautiful afternoon, with a cool breeze gently blowing through the stadium, the conditions were ideal for the Sharks to grasp the upper hand by imprinting their style of play on the opposition.

Teams have come to Kimberley with the best of intentions and left the big hole with their tails between their legs, denied by a tough, resolute home side who employs a brand of no-nonsense, slow-the-ball down style of rugby that is not so pretty as it is effective.

However, Griquas started impressively, and dare we say it, uncharacteristically, using the width of the field to good effect as they kept the ball alive.

The opening try of the match went to the home side as they capitalised on a wild pass, with the kick and chase just beating the deadball line. They played a lot more adventurous rugby than they are known to, and it brought them good reward, scoring two first half tries, and denying the Sharks anything more than a solitary try - going into the break 14-7 up.

The Sharks battled against a fired up home side who obviously take this kind of fixture very seriously - an opportunity to get one over their loftier opposition.

The Sharks had the opportunity to level matters on the stroke of half-time with a good attacking movement being lost with some overzealous passing.

The second half started in similar circumstances to the first, with Griquas proving a tough nut to crack.

Conrad Barnard, who converted both first-half tries,  stretched the lead with two penalties, and the 13 point margin started to look ominous for the Sharks as they battled to get into their stride.

However, one got the feeling that they started to assert their game plan on the hosts, and they were duly rewarded with a try to Warren Britz to narrow the gap.

But a host of penalties conceded by both sides prevented any form of continuity as the Sharks tried manfully, but could not turn pressure into points.

Andries Strauss's last minute try was just reward for the team after sustained pressure, but it was too little too late with Griquas having done enough to score a hard-fought victory.

For the Sharks, Ryan Kankowski again had a very good game, with Steven Sykes also playing a prominent role, but the entire Griquas team defended like it was a final, and perhaps that was the difference in the end.

A narrow loss, and a few lessons learned.

The scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Dlomo, Stick
Cons: Barnard 2
Pens: Barnard 2, Kruger

For the Sharks:
Tries: Sykes, Strauss
Cons: Meyer, Pienaar
Pen: Pienaar

Teams:

Wildeklawer Griquas: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Vuyani Dlomo, 13 Lafras Uys, 12 Herkie Kruger, 11 MJ Mentz, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Frans Viljoen, 7 Gareth Krause (captain), 6 Heinrich Stride, 5 Windpomp van Rooyen, 4 Evan Botha, 3 Hedley Wessels, 2 Willie Wepner, 1Eugene van Staden.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Cerneels Rautenbach, 18 Wayne van Heerden, 19 Cilliers Coetzer/Jacques Burger, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Brendell Brandt, 22 Tiger Mangweni.

Sharks: 15 Mzwandile Stick, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Okkie Vermeulen, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Craig Burden, 10 Steve Meyer, 9 Sandile Nxumalo, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jaco Gouws (captain), 6 Warren Britz, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Wouter Moore, 3 Danie Saayman, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Kees Lensing.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Sangoni Mxoli, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Conrad Stoltz, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Bradley Barritt, 22 Brett Hennessey

Referee: Deon van Blommestein
Touch judges: Louis Mzomba (Western Province), François Veldsman (Boland) 
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel (Free State)