Cape Town — Western Province let a commanding first-half lead slip to lose their Currie Cup clash against Griquas in Stellenbosch on Friday.
Leading 35-19 at the break after an electric start which saw them run in five tries in the first half, the men from Kimberley orchestrated a comeback to steal the win.
In their last match, Griquas — who kept their semi-final aspirations alive and thriving with this victory — put up their performance of the season to hammer the then-unbeaten Cheetahs 46-18, and their super comeback against Province showed that they can get the job done playing away from home as well.
Having won only two of their games going into this one, the struggling Province had nothing but pride to play for seeing as they can’t make the semi-finals anymore.
After a strong maul, captain Tim Swiel put through a chip, with Tristan Leyds gathering to score the opener after five minutes of play.
Hooker Jacques van Zyl ran in their second try after another strong maul to take the score to 14-0.
The tries didn’t dry up at all, with Province getting two more through Juan de Jongh, Angelo Davids and Swiel (35-7 after 25 minutes), with the visitors running in two before half time.
WP were first on the scoreboard after the break courtesy of Swiel’s boot, and with WP one-man down, Griquas capitalised to get within three converted tries of the home team (41-24).
They got two tries, which took the score to 41-36 with three minutes to go. And after a thrilling couple of minutes, the visitors scored a last-gasp try for a 41-43 win.
IOL Sport