The Cell C Sharks hosted the Tafel Lager Griquas in the last match of Round 8. The Tafel Lager Griquas secured a brilliant 37-27 win over their host on the back of their brilliant defence.
Griquas were reduced to 13 men twice during the match, however, a brilliant defensive effort by the Griquas not only kept them in the match but also secured a brilliant win. In the last 5 minutes of first-half, a blitzkrieg of two tries set the Griquas on their way to yet another big surprise.
01:36 A great inside pass set Daniel Kasende free to run almost 35m to dot down for the first try of the match, (00-07)
04:39 Curwin Bosch converted his first penalty, (03-07).
19:58 Gideon vd Merwe yellow carded. Griquas is down to 14 players.
20:00 A physical start to the game with both teams not giving nor asking any favours. The momentum is at this stage with the Sharks. However, the Griquas are still in the lead after an early try. The ill-discipline by the Griquas is putting them under tremendous pressure.
20:52 A second yellow card (Stefan Ungerer0 against the Griquas reduce them to 13 men on the field.
31:00 The Sharks finally cross the line as Mpilo Gumede scored the Sharks first try. Brilliant work by Kok and Volmink set up the try, (08-07).
34:02 The Sharks' Sanele Nohamba received a yellow card.
37:19 Janco Uys scored off the back of a 5m lineout driving maul, (08-14).
39:47 In a helter-skelter match Ederies Arendse scored after the Sharks could not control the kickoff. Great word by Gideon van der Merwe allowed the Griquas to spread the ball wide to Arendse, (08-21).
40:00 The Sharks will kick themselves for not scoring more than the one try after they dominated proceedings while the Griquas were reduced to 13 men. A Griquas blitzkrieg during the last 5 minutes of the first half gave them a 21-08 lead at halftime.
45:50 Sibabalo Qoma scored the Griquas bonus point try from the back of a 5m lineout driving maul, (28-08).
53:20 George Whitehead converted a penalty to stretch the Griques lead even further, (08-31).
60:00 The defence of the Griquas must be mentioned as they kept the Sharks from scoring several times in the 3rd quarter. Time was busy running out for the Sharks at this stage.
60:08 A yellow card to Adre Smith to "earn" Griquas' third yellow card.
62:09 Sibabalo Qoma received the Griquas' 4th yellow card.
65:33 HJ Luus' yellow card reduced Griquas to twelve players.
65:49 Reniel Hugo scored the Sharks second try after Griquas were reduced to 12 men, (13-31).
68:53 George Whitehead converted Griquas' 2nd penalty, (13-34)
69:46 Yaw Penxe scored the Sharks' 3rd try from the kickoff, (20:34).
75:09 George Whitehead converted his 3rd penalty, (20-37).
77:09 Thembelani Bholi scored the Sharks' 4th and bonus point try as the Sharks are desperately chasing a win, (27-37).
Scorers:
Tafel Lager Griquas: Tries: Daniel Kasende, Janco Uys, Gideon van der Merwe, Sibabalo Qoma. Conversions: George Whitehead (4). Penalties: George Whitehead (3).
Cell C Sharks: Tries: Mpilo Gumede, Reniel Hugo, Yaw Penxe, Thembelani Bholi. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2). Penalty: Curwin Bosch.
Cell C Sharks: 15. Anthony Volmink, 14. Yaw Penxe, 13. Werner Kok, 12. Murray Koster, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 10. Curwin Bosch, 9. Sanele Nohamba, 8. Phepsi Buthelezi (c), 7. Mpilo Gumede, 6. James Venter, 5. Reniel Hugo, 4. Le Roux Roets, 3. Lourens Adriaanse, 2. Kerron van Vuuren, 1. Ntuthuko Mchunu. Replacements: 16. Dan Jooste, 17. Mzamo Majola, 18. Wiehahn Herbst, 19. Thembelani Bholi, 20. Henco Venter, 21. Jaden Hendrikse, 22. Lionel Cronje, 23. Jeremy Ward.
Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Stefan Willemse, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Mox Mxoli. Replacements (from): 16 HJ Luus, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Cameron Lindsay, 20 Hanru Sirgel, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Tinus de Beer, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Tijde Visser, 25 Luyolo Dapula, 26 Theo Boshoff.