The Golden Lions claimed an important 34-17 bonus-point victory against Griquas in Kimberley on Friday night, writes MARIETTE ADAMS.
Make no mistake, this was a low-quality contest beset with basic mistakes (there were 39 handling errors), poor decision-making, and an all-round lack of scoring opportunities. And yet, in the bigger scheme of things, it is an excellent result for the Lions, who made it back-to-back wins for the first time in this year’s tournament.
Scoring chances were few and far between, especially in the first half when defence trumped attack as Griquas boasted an 89% tackle completion rate, and the Lions 91%. But, unlike the hosts, the Lions made full use of their limited ventures into the 22.
After an almighty tussle early in the game, a determined kick-chase from Rohan Janse van Rensburg led to an easy run-in for flank Cyle Brink to score after Griquas failed to secure possession.
Nine minutes later Kwagga Smith broke away from a driving maul to score a converted try to double the Lions’ advantage, despite being down to 14 men after centre Harold Vorster had received a yellow card.
While the game failed to captivate, the Lions ended the opening half with a 10-point burst after a converted try from scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren and a penalty by Jaco van der Walt, which handed the visitors a 24-0 lead.
Going into the second period, the handy buffer appeared to be enough for the Lions, particularly because Griquas had offered nothing up until that point to suggest they had it in them to overturn the deficit.
It continued to be a scrappy affair throughout the third quarter, but Griquas manufactured an abrupt momentum swing to set up a frenetic final 20 minutes.
Wing Kyle Steyn and captain Adriaan Coerten scored in quick succession, before George Whitehead landed a long-range penalty that reduced the gap to seven.
However, the Lions withstood another onslaught on their line, before wrapping up the win with a penalty and a late try by Janse van Rensburg to come away with the maximum log points on offer.
Griquas – Tries: Kyle Steyn, Adriaan Coertzen. Conversions: George Whitehead (2). Penalty: Whitehead.
Golden Lions – Tries: Cyle Brink, Kwagga Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Rohan Janse van Rensburg. Conversions: Jaco van der Walt (4). Penalties: Van der Walt (2).
Griquas – 15 Adriaan Coertzen (c), 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 Koch Marx, 10 Andre Swarts, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 De Wet Kruger, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuuren, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Abraham le Roux, 1 Liam Hendricks.
Subs: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Stephan Kotze, 18 Sintu Manjezi, 19 Shaun McDonald, 20 Renier Botha, 21 George Whitehead, 22 Eric Zana.
Golden Lions – 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen (c).
Subs: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Robert Kruger, 20 Fabian Booysen, 21 Branco du Preez, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi.
Photo: Louis Botha/Gallo Images
