Western Province pummel Griffons to end weekend of Currie Cup action

The visitors struggled initially but soon found their rhythm, ultimately outscoring the Griffons nine tries to two. This win marked their first in the competition, leaving the Griffons and the Sharks at the bottom of the standings as the only teams still searching for a win.

The game began evenly, but the Griffons took an early lead when left-wing Andrew Kota successfully kicked a penalty in the 11th minute. Kota nearly extended the lead two minutes later but was stopped short. The subsequent phase saw prop Moango Ngundue power over for a converted try, giving the Griffons a 10-0 advantage.

However, the remainder of the first half was dominated by the visitors. Western Province scored five tries in the second quarter, building a substantial lead by halftime.

Angelo Davids scored the visitors' first try, managing to cross the line despite being tackled. A Griffons error allowed Province's flank Paul de Villiers to break away and offload to outside centre Luke Burger, who scored with flyhalf Jurie Mathee converting both to give Province a 14-10 lead by the 23rd minute.

The visitors then hit their stride, with fullback Clayton Blommetjies finishing an overlap try, followed by Roche's first try off the kick-off. Both tries were converted by Mathee, pushing Province to a 28-10 lead after 30 minutes.

Western Province ended the first half strongly, with Davids scoring after a Griffons lineout error, making the halftime score 33-10.

The second half saw Western Province continue their dominant performance, starting with Roche's unconverted try in the 46th minute after a lineout break.

The Griffons finally scored in the 48th minute, as they attacked from their own half, with right-wing Christiaan Nel finishing off a series of phases and offloads to make it 38-15.

Province soon regained control, using their rolling maul to secure two more tries. Replacement loose forward CJ Velleman scored both, with one conversion from Mathee, extending the lead to 50-15.

The Griffons' attempts to attack from a scrum in their own 22m backfired as Roche intercepted a dropped ball and completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute.

A hectic finish saw the Griffons concede a penalty in their 22m. As they were caught off guard, lock Hendre Stassen quickly tapped and scored the final try, securing the impressive 64-15 win.

The scorers

For the Griffons

Tries: Ngundue, Nel

Con: Kota

Pen: Kota

For Western Province

Tries: Davids 2, Burger, Blommetjies, Roche 3, Vokozela, Velleman, Stassen

Cons: Matthee 7

Yellow card: Thato Mavundla (Griffons, 27 â- repeated infringements, taking the supporter out in the line-out)

Teams:

Griffons: 15 Gurshwin Wehr, 14 Christiaan Nel, 13 Keanu Vers, 12 Robbie Petzer, 11 Qamani Kota, 10 Kyle Cyster, 9 Keegan Schaefer, 8 Mingo Piti, 7 Jared Kruger, 6 Thato Mavundla (captain), 5 Curtly Thomas, 4 Rian Olivier, 3 Moango Ngundue, 2 Chadley Wenn, 1 Mthokozisi Gumede.

Replacements: 16 Willem van der Hever, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 Buhle Nojekwa, 19 Joshua Paris, 20 Matthew Gray, 21 Orateng Koikanyang, 22 Cheslin Arendse, 23 Gilroy Philander.

Western Province: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Jared Africa, 13 Luke Burger, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Louw Nel, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Hendré Stassen, 3 Vernon Matongo, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.

Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Nicolas Roebeck, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Andre Goehals, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Damian Markus, 23 Courtnall Skosan.

Referee: Hanru van Rooyen

Assistant referees: Local

TMO: Egon Seconds

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