DHL Western Province scored a try in each half, but it was not enough as Tafel Lager Griquas held out for a narrow 22-20 Carling Currie Cup win in Kimberley on Friday.
Despite their dominance at times, DHL Western Province were left frsutrated as they battled to make the most of their opportunities in the slippery conditions.
DHL Western Province dominated territory and possession in the first half, but struggled to turn that into points consistently in the slippery conditions.
The home side kicked four penalties in the first half, with DHL Western Province scoring the only try, but also spent 10 minutes with 14 players on the field.
Leolin Zas scored the try which came as the result of some set-piece dominance from the forward pack, while lock Ben-Jason Dixon was shown a yellow card for playing Stefan Ungerer off the ball.
That saw the hosts take a slender 12-10 lead into the half-time break, making it anyone’s game in the second half.
DHL Western Province played all the rugby at the start of the second half and eventually took the lead back with a penalty from Tim Swiel.
The home side then enjoyed a series of penalties through their scrum ascendency which resulted in two maul tries.
Despite being down by nine points, DHL Western Province refused to give in and managed to hit back late in the gam when Zas got over for his second try.
However, it was not enough as Tafel Lager Griquas held on for a slender win.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Zas 2
Cons: Swiel 2
Pens: Swiel 2
For Tafel Lager Griquas:
Tries: Schutte, Du Rand
Pens: Du Plessis 4
DHL Western Province: 15 Kade Wolhuter, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Timothy Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 David Meihuizen, 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Sacha Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan James.
