Windhoek Draught Griquas staged one of the biggest come-back-from-behind wins after they trailed 10-28 against the Cell C Sharks after 40 minutes of play. The home team came out in the second half and score 38 points to win 48-40 in Kimberley on Sunday.
The Windhoek Draught Griquas started like a house of fire which gave an early opportunity to Lubabalo Dobela to open the scoring for the hosts with a converted penalty to lead 03-00.
The Cell C Sharks replied from the kickoff after a sustained period trying to muscle their way over the tryline, a brilliant pass by Fred Zeilinga put Francois Venter in a gap to score the opening try of the match.
The Windhoek Draught Griquas had the Cell C Sharks forwards on roller skates following a 5m lineout maul, and the referee awarded them a penalty try following a yellow card shown to Hanro Jacobs (Cell C Sharks) for collapsing the maul. The Windhoek Draught Griquas retook the lead 10-07 after 11 minutes of play.
After 20 minutes of play the Windhoek Draught Griquas started to dominate procedures on the back of a brilliant scrumhalf Johan Mulder's performance. However, the forwards of the Cell C Sharks gave them the Cell C Sharks the upper hand up front and on the ground.
The Cell C Sharks' Fez Mbatha scored their second try from the back of a 5m lineout-maul to retake the lead 14-10 after 25 minutes of play in the first half.
The Cell C Sharks scored a third try after a great run by Marnus Potgieter who passed to release Cameron Wright for an "easy" try. Yaw Penge scored the 4th and bonus point try after some great interplay and handling for the Cell C Sharks. The Cell C Sharks led 28-10 at the halftime break.
The Windhoek Draught Griquas were overpowered by the stronger pack of forwards of their visitors which became more dominant as the first half continued. The Cell C Sharks' lead of 21 at the halftime break was well deserved as they were starting to threaten to overpower the Windhoek Draught Griquas' defence.
Windhoek Draught Griquas' head coach Pieter Bergh's halftime talk had an immediate effect as the host scored a brilliant try after just 2 minutes of play in the second half. Stephan Smit scored in the corner after great passing from a turnover. Two minutes later a "fresh" Windhoek Draught Griquas scored their second try to trail by 24-28 when Luther Obi was put into a gap by a great pass from Johan Mulder.
Hanru Sirgel scored the third Windhoek Draught try in eight minutes as the home team is running the Cell C Sharks off their feet. The home team led 31-28 with 26 minutes remaining of the match. A yellow card to Yaw Penxe (Cell C Sharks) was the result of several errors made by the visitors in their desperation to keep the Windhoek Draught Griquas from scoring more tries.
With 17 minutes to go a brilliant Johan Mulder scored the Windhoek Draught Griquas' fifth try. A failed Windhoek Draught Griquas' lineout-maul was stopped by the Cell C Sharks after which hooker Uys fed Mulder a great pass, after which Mulder strolled over for a just reward for his efforts on the day. The home team at this stage scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to lead 41-28.
With 5 minutes to go Windhoek Draught Griquas' Janco Uys scored from the back of a 15-lineout maul, however, Dylan Richardson (Cell C Sharks) scored two late tries for the Cell C Sharks to make the score 40-48.
Scorers:
Windhoek Draught: Tries: Penalty try, Stephan Smit, Luther Obi, Hanru Sirgel, Johan Mulder, Janco Uys. Conversions: Lubabalo Dobela (5). Penalties: Lubabalo Dobela (2)
Cell C Sharks: Tries: Francois Venter, Fez Mbatha, Cameron Wright, Yaw Penxe, Dylan Richardson (2). Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (4), Lionel Cronje.
Teams:
Windhoek Draught Griquas: 15 Malcolm Jaer 14. Rosko Specman, 13. Jay-Cee Nel, 12. Zander du Plessis, 11. Luther Obi, 10. Lubabalo Dobela, 9. Johan Mulder, 8. Carl Els, 7. Stephan Smit (c), 6. Niel Otto, 5. Derik Pretorius, 4. Albert Liebenberg, 3. Junior Banda, 2. Gustav du Randt, 1. Kudzwai Dube. Replacements: 16. Janco Uys, 17. Eddie Davids, 18. Cebo Dlamini, 19. Janco Venter, 20. Hanru Surgel, 21. Bobby Alexander, 22. George Whitehead, 23. Eddie Fouche.
Cell C Sharks: 15. Thaakir Abrahams, 14. Yaw Penxe, 13. Murray Koster (c), 12. Francois Venter, 11. Marnus Potgieter, 10. Fred Zeilinga, 9. Cameron Wright, 8. Henco Venter, 7. Dylan Richardson, 6. James Venter, 5. Reniel Hugo, 4. Hyron Andrews, 3. Hanro Jacobs, 2. Fez Mbatha, 1. Khwezi Mona. Replacements: 16. Dan Jooste, 17. Dian Bleuler, 18. Khutha Mchunu, 19. Athenkosi Khethani, 20. Hanru Sirgel, 21. Damon Royle, 22. Bradley Davids, 23. Lionel Cronje.