Gouws Prinsloo kicked eight penalties as Griquas beat the Pumas 31-27 in Kimberley on Saturday.
The home side took advantage of Pumas indiscipline to stretch into a 9-0 lead after 25 minutes thanks to three penalties from Prinsloo. The visitors responded through two penalties from Justin van Staden, only for Prinsloo to add another three points to extend the lead back to six.
With five minutes remaining in the half, the Pumas scored the first try of the game, and it came after good work from their danger man Rosko Speckman.
The winger took advantage of a loose kick from Francois Brummer to beat two men, before offloading to Reynier van Rooyen to score. Van Staden missed the conversion that would have put the Pumas in front for the first time.
However, Griquas responded before half-time, scoring their only try of the game through Vermeulen. It came after a grubber through from Brummer and Vermeulen was quickest to the ball, with Prinsloo's conversion making it 19-11 at the break.
Prinsloo was at it again early in the second half, adding three more penalties, to one from Van Staden, as the home side extended their lead to 28-14 after 53 minutes.
The visitors needed a response, and it came from their centre JW Jonker, and this time Van Staden was on target with the conversion.
He added another penalty just after to cut the deficit to four points, but Prinsloo responded with another penalty of his own.
There was still time for the Pumas to cut the gap once more, with replacement JC Roos on target this time, but despite a late charge, they were not able to get the try they needed to win the game.
Griquas – Try: PJ Vermeulen. Conversion: Gouws Prinsloo. Penalties: Prinsloo (8).
Pumas – Tries: Reynier van Rooyen, JW Jonker. Conversion: Justin van Staden. Penalties: Van Staaden (4), JC Roos.
Griquas – 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 PJ Vermeulen, 10 Francois Brummer (c), 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Carel Greeff, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.
Subs: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Maks van Dyk, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 Burger Schoeman, 20 RJ Liebenberg, 21 Abrie Griesel, 22 Dean Grant.
Pumas – 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Jerome Pretorius, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosko Speckman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Corné Steenkamp (c), 5 Giant Mtyanda, 4 Frikkie Spies, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Corné Fourie.
Subs: 16 Frankie Herne, 17 DeJay Terblanche, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Sinovuyo Nyoka, 21 JC Roos, 22 JW Bell.
Photo: Louis Botha/Gallo Images
