The Griquas made their intentions clear from the start when they scored within the first five minutes of the game. Three minutes later, Cameron Hufke went over the line for the hosts, with George Whitehead making no mistakes with the conversions.  

That meant a quick 14-0 lead for the Griquas within the first ten minutes of the game.

The Griquas’ flyhalf, George Whitehead. Photo: Morgan Piek

However, the Kavaliers also came to play and scored two quick tries, levelling the score at 14-14 within the first 15 minutes of the game. Boland then seemed to find another gear, scoring two more tries before the half-hour mark to lead by 28-14. 

A penalty try was awarded to Griquas, and another try by the agile scrumhalf Bobby Alexander put them back in the picture and levelled the scores at 28-28 at halftime.

Fitness

Both teams came out of the sheds swinging, with Griquas scoring first in the second half, but Boland countered with around 30 minutes to go to level the scores once again at 35-35.  

But the Griquas’ fitness and depth in the second half proved decisive when they simply outplayed the Kavaliers by scoring three more tries in the final quarter of the game. 

Gurshwin Wehr. Photo: Morgan Piek

Boland will rue their poor discipline, and two yellow cards during the game did not help Hawies Fourie’s men. To rub salt in the wounds, the Griquas were awarded a penalty from the 50-meter line just moments before the final whistle, which Hufke calmly slotted through the uprights to seal a 59–35 victory.

After the match, Griquas coach Pieter Bergh said over the years his team have learnt not to let go once they have the victory in sight.

“I think the other thing for us as a team is that we believe we’re an incredibly difficult team to play against. And when we do get on the front foot, we’ve got the ability. 

“I think we’ve learned over the last few years the ability to suffocate and strangle teams, you know, and that’s exactly what we did in the second half,” said Bergh.

The SA Cup final between the Griquas and Pumas will be played on Saturday (23/5) at the Suzuki Stadium in Kimberley.

Scorers:

Suzuki Griquas 59: Tries: Dylan Maart (2), Cameron Hufke, penalty try, Bobby Alexander, Marco de Witt, Sako Makata, Lourens Oosthuizen Conv: George Whitehead (7), Pen: Hufke

Sanlam Boland Kavaliers 35: Tries: James Tedder, Jade Stighling, Domenic Smit, Thurlow Marsh, Jurick Lewis Cons: Tedder (5)

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg