Cavaliers fall short against old foes Griquas in Kimberley
- Boland Rugby
- Aug 3
- 3 min read
Despite a Donovan Don hat-trick, the Sanlam Boland Cavaliers went down 48-39 in a Currie Cup Premier Division thriller against the Suzuki Griquas in Kimberley on Sunday.
The Griquas ran in eight tries to six from the visitors, with the match-winning blow coming in the 76th minute. The Cavaliers picked up a try bonus point and, with last week’s win against the Toyota Cheetahs, are on six log points.
Gift Dlamini suffered a serious injury in the first quarter of the match. The gifted former Maties loose forward sustained a leg injury and had to be stretchered off.
The game got off to a fiery start with the Cavas’ attack showing promise. But it was the home side that opened the scoring courtesy of a Dylan Maart try.
The visitors would, however, strike back immediately when Lunathi Nxele ran a brilliant line off an Ashlon Davids pass and stepped three defenders to dive over near the sticks and secure an easy conversion for a 7-5 lead.
The home side took advantage at set-piece time with Lourens Oosthuizen crashing over and put the home side back in the lead. The tide turned in favour of the Cavas, as they responded positively after conceding a third try, with Nxele running a great line off of an inside pass before sending midfield mate David Brits away.
Almost immediately from the kick-off, the Cavaliers regained the lead as Boland pounced on a handling error by George Whitehead for Donovan Don to run in the Cavas’ third five-pointer. Another Griquas error, this time by Gurshwin Wehr, saw Boland pounce again, with right winger Marcqiewn Titus going over from the counter-attack, extending the Cavas’ lead.
Another loose pass by Wehr just before half-time got intercepted by Don, who showed a clean pair of heels to dot down under the crossbar, with Tedder converting, handing the visitors a healthy 15-point lead at the break, 34-19.
However, Boland relinquished their lead within the first 12 minutes of the restart. Back-to-back tries by Griquas scrumhalf Caleb Abrahams and Wehr handed the lead back to the home side, 36-34.
They would, however, not trail for long as the Cavas, on the day, seemed to make it an art of how to score from unforced Griquas errors. With replacement hooker HP van Schoor picking up a loose pass by Abrahams, before the hooker gently passed the ball to Don, sending the speedster away, to complete his hat-trick.
The lead changed hands yet again when Tiaan Lange drove over. And with 10 minutes to play, it was still anyone’s game as the see-saw attacking battle kept supporters on the edge of their seats.
Maart thought he had won it for the home side in the 72nd minute as he dived over in the right corner but a clinical Khwezi Mafu tackle shoved Maart’s foot into touch.
It was, however, Derik Pretorius’ try that snatched the victory for the Griquas, after trailing by three scores at the break.
Whitehead’s conversion made it a nine-point lead with three minutes left to play, leaving the Cavaliers with too much to do to rinse and repeat their opening round come-from-behind win against the Cheetahs.
Scores
Sanlam Boland Cavaliers 39 (34) - Tries: Lunathi Nxele, David Brits, Donovan Don (3), Marcqiewn Titus; Conversion: James Tedder (3); Penalty: Tedder
Suzuki Griquas 48 (19) - Tries: Dylan Maart, Lourens Oosthuizen, Gurshwin Wehr (2), Caleb Abrahams (2), Tiaan Lange and Derik Pretorius. Conversion: George Whitehead (4)
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