Scarra Ntubeni of Western Province during the Absa Currie Cup match between DHL Western Province and GWK Griquas. Photo: Luke Walker / Gallo Images
Western Province were made to fight all the way for their hard-earned 19-13 win over Griquas in a Currie Cup clash at a chilly and wet Newlands on Friday evening.
WP were forced to make pre-match changes to their match-day squad after flank Rynhardt Elstadt picked up a shoulder injury at Thursday’s training session at Newlands.
WP under-21 skipper Rayn Smid was promoted from the substitutes’ bench into the run-on XV.
Despite the soggy underfoot conditions, WP ran the ball at every opportunity in the opening 20 minutes, but were thwarted short of the Griquas tryline.
WP Flyhalf Kurt Coleman slotted two penalties and Francois Brummer struck added one for the visitors, before Griquas scored against the run of play through Nico Scheepers’ try, which he converted himself, after the WP defence were unable to gather a grubber kick.
The hosts’ Gerhard van den Heever was yellow-carded six minutes ahead of the break by referee Lourens van der Merwe, who adjudged the winger to have thrown a punch as he was tackled by the Griquas defence.
WP tried to repair the damage by continuing to run hard with ball-in-hand, but were forced to retreat to the change rooms trailing 10-6.
The 14-man WP resumed play with an even greater sense of urgency when the second half got under way, regaining the lead by the 49th minute. – Sport Live
For more Currie Cup news, click here.
For more breaking sporting news and views, visit MySport24 on Twitter and Facebook.
