Griquas won an absolute humdinger of a Currie Cup match with a thrilling 33-32 win over Western Province in Kimberley on Friday afternoon. In what was a see saw battle from start to finish, Province outscored the hosts by four tries to three but the log leading Griquas managed to keep their unbeaten record intact through brilliant cohesion and some heroics by fullback Riaan Viljoen.  Province suffered a major blow before the match with news that flyhalf Willem de Waal was forced to withdraw due to a neck injury. As a result, Peter Grant shifted to flyhalf and Morgan Newman moved into the midfield. Newman’s spot on the bench was filled by Maties centre Paul Bosch.

The Lions stumbled past the Boland Cavaliers with an unconvincing 19-13 win in Wellington on Friday afternoon.  Flyhalf Earl Rose kicked 14 points for the Lions with their sole try coming by the way of former Springbok wing Henno Mentz.

In a match of contrasting halves, the Cheetahs finally broke their duck with a 24-15 win over the Blue Bulls at Vodacom Park on Friday night.  The Blue Bulls, who led 12-3 at the break, failed to capitalise on a man advantage in a second half in which they went to sleep. The fancied visitors managed a mere three points in the final forty whereas a resurgent Cheetahs outfit scored 22 points.

After a slow start, the Sharks kicked into overdrive and ran out 44-15 winners over a spirited Leopards side in Rustenburg on Friday night.  Juan Martin Hernandez had a satisfactory debut, controlling the backline well and kicking 8 points before a dead leg cut his evening short. The Los Pumas pivot was replaced by Guy Cronjé at half time with the youngster also taking over the goal-kicking duties.

The Leopards played well in the first forty, trailing 3-13 at the break, but were blown out of the water in the latter stages of the contest as the Sharks found their rhythm.

Source + Pic: sarugby.com

Tags: blue bulls, boland kavaliers, cheetahs, griquas, leopards, lions, sharks, western province