A pulsating SA Cup semifinal saw the Suzuki Griquas outplay the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers, 59-35, on Saturday at the Suzuki Stadium in Kimberley.
Last year's finalists will once again contest for the SA Cup title in Kimberley when the Griquas host the defending champions, the Airlink Pumas, who beat the Toyota Cheetahs 42-36 on Friday.
The second SA Cup semifinal lived up to the expectation with five tries being scored in the opening 20 minutes.
Racing to a 14-point lead, Griquas stunned the visitors through a blitzkrieg, leading to Cameron Hufke and Dylan Maart dotting down with George Whitehead slotting both tries.
This lead was, however, short-lived when the experience and creativity of the Kavaliers led to three tries courtesy of James Tedder, Jade Stighling, and Domenic Smit.
Tedder succeeded with all three conversion attempts, handing the visiting side a 14-28 lead.
The home side would have the final say in the opening half when referee Dylen November awarded a penalty try to Griquas, levelling matters on the scoreboard as the players headed into the sheds 28-all.
Firing on all cylinders, both sides came out in the second half with the home side calling the shots through passages of relentless attacking phases, leading to a try for Marco de Witt.
A brilliant individual move 10 metres away from the tryline by Jurick Lewis saw the inside centre canter in for what proved to be the only points for the Kavaliers in the second half.
It was a series of errors and missed tackles, leading to the Griquas capitalising and building a substantial lead heading into the final 20 minutes of the match.
Tries for Sako Makata and Lourens Oosthuizen deep in the second half, and with Whitehead's accuracy off the tee, aided the home side in keeping the scoreboard pressure on the men from Wellington.
Scorers:
Suzuki Griquas 59: Tries: Dylan Maart (2), Cameron Hufke, Penalty Try, Bobby Alexander, Marco de Witt, Sako Makata, Lourens Oosthuizen Cons: George Whitehead (7), Pen: Hufke
Sanlam Boland Kavaliers 35: Tries: James Tedder, Jade Stighling, Domenic Smit, Thurlow Marsh, Jurick Lewis Cons: Tedder (5)
TEAMS:
Suzuki Griquas: 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Damian Markus, 12 Sako Makata, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Phumzile Maqondwana, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg (C), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Leon Lyons
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Corné Lavagna, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Carl Els, 21 Caleb Abrahams, 22 Zane Bester, 23 Connor Mahoney
Sanlam Boland Kavaliers: 15 James Tedder, 14 Xavier Mitchell, 13 Lunathi Nxele, 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Chris Smit, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Thurlow Marsh (capt), 7 Sibusiso Sangweni, 6 Sauliegh Arendse, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Jeandré Leonard, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Joshua Eras, 1 Dewald Maritz
Replacements: 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Mthokozisi Gumede, 18 Andrew Beerwinkel, 19 Michael Benadie, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Thurlon Williams, 23 Domenic Smit