It’s WP against Griquas at Florida Park ...

THE inaugural SuperSport Rugby Challenge final will see the unbeaten Western Province go up against Griquas at Florida Park in Ravensmead on Sunday.

At the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape yesterday, WP came out on top a typically tough Province v Blue Bulls affair (28-24), while Griquas booked their ticket to the final earlier in the day with a 33-21 victory over the more-fancied Golden Lions.

In the second semi-final of the day, the Blue Bulls called the shots when it came to the scrums, possession and territory, but Province scored an unconverted try in the last 10 minutes to snatch the victory.

Luke Stringer, Godlen Masimla and Jaco Coetzee were all on the try-scorers list for the Stormers, while Kurt Coleman contributed two conversions and three penalty kicks.

For the Bulls, Dries Swanepoel, Franco Naude and Dewald Naude did the try-scoring honours, and Joshua Stander added three conversions and a penalty kick.

The Griquas produced some great rugby in the opening 40 minutes and ran in three tries to take a commanding 27-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Lions stepped up their game and scored three tries of their own, but Griquas ruined any hopes of a comeback victory for the Lions.

Ederies Arendse, Ewald van der Westhuizen and Sias Koen all crossed the try line for Griquas, and George Whitehead added three conversions and two penalty kicks to the score sheet.

Replacement flyhalf Andre Swarts also added two three-pointers.

In the 48th minute, quarter-final Man of the Match James Venter’s crossing started the Lions’ comeback when he scored their first try.

Pacey winger Madosh Tambwe added a brace soon afterwards, and Shaun Reynolds added the third conversion to take the Lions within six points of Griquas with 20 minutes to go.

But Griquas bagged another three points through Swarts’ penalty kick with 10 minutes left, before he added another one a few minutes later to stretch their lead to 33-21.