George Whitehead scored 15 points for the hosts, a converted try and four more conversions, in the penultimate round of the Currie Cup competition.

The Griquas wasted no time getting points on the board, with Whitehead and centre Zane Bester both going over the line in the first five minutes. Caleb Bester made it three in a row for the Griquas to give the men from Kimberley a 21-0 lead within the first 15 minutes of the game.

The Cheetahs responded in the 26th minute, when hooker Marko Janse van Rensburg went over the whitewash to make it 21-5. But the Griquas were far from done. Winger Gurshwin Wehr first scored, followed by fullback Cameron Hufke to put the Griquas in a commanding position of 33-5 at the half-time mark.

The first 20 minutes of the second half were a back-and-forth affair, but Wehr scored his second in the 63rd minute to extend the lead to 40-5. However, discipline once again became a problem for the Griquas, who lost three players – prop Leon Lyons, scrumhalf Caleb Abrahams, and Lock Albert Liebenberg – to yellow cards in quick succession.

‘We want to host the semi-final’

The Cheetahs managed to score another try, courtesy of loose forward Daniel Maartens, but failed to otherwise capitalise on their numerical advantage. After the match, Griquas coach Pieter Bergh said getting to the top of the table is a huge advantage.

“You can get into a position where you maybe need a point or a points difference at the end, and we’ve talked as a team. We don’t just want to play in a semi-final, we want to host the semi-final. That’s our drive and that’s our goal.”

Both the Griquas and Cheetahs will play their final matches away from home. The Griquas will face the Lions at Emirates Airline Park next Saturday at 17:00, while the Cheetahs will have to come out guns blazing against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, also on Saturday at 19:05.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg