The Griquas ran riot at the Suzuki Stadium, delivering a much more polished performance to notch their eighth consecutive win against Province. This also handed the Cape Town side their third straight defeat in the competition this season.

Lock Albert Liebenberg opened the scoring in the 11th minute, galloping over to finish off a well-worked team try. It wasn’t long before the Peacock Blues, playing in pink, doubled their lead through centre Zane Bester.

Carl Els - Louis Botha/Griquas

Minutes later, replacement flanker Aden de Costa scored on debut to get Province on the board shortly after coming on for captain and Blitzbok Zain Davids.

The joy was short-lived for Province as scrumhalf Caleb Abrahams crossed to give the Griquas a 21-7 lead at halftime.

Gurswin Wehr scored the Griquas’ bonus-point try in the 49th minute, stretching the lead to 21 points. Veteran hooker Scarra Ntubeni grabbed an opportunistic try for the visitors following some sloppy work by the hosts in their in-goal area, keeping Province in the hunt.

Thomas Bursey - Louis Botha/Griquas

However, replacement lock Derik Pretorius scored a crucial try that broke the camel’s back, despite Ezekiel Ngobeni crossing with his first touch of the game.

A double strike from Carl Els and Thomas Bursey in the final three minutes sealed the deal for the Griquas, who climbed up to third on the log — at least for now.

It was also a much better kicking display off the tee by George Whitehead who managed to slot six out of the seven conversion attempts.

Derik Pretorius - Louis Botha/Griquas

Next Friday, the Griquas will entertain the defending champions, the Sharks, in Kimberley.

Scorers:

Griquas: Tries – Albert Liebenberg, Zane Bester, Caleb Abrahams, Gurswin Wehr, Derik Pretorius, Carel Els, Thomas Bursey Conv. – George Whitehead 6

Western Province: Tries - Aden da Costa, Scarra Ntubeni, Ezekiel Ngobeni Conv. – Jurie Matthee 1

Morgan Piek OFM Sport