A handful of spectators witnessed a dreary and dull 9-9 draw between Griquas and Boland at a damp and overcast Boland Stadium in Wellington on Friday.

Both teams lacked creative spark, and traded three penalties each in the tryless encounter, which was not the best advertisement for Currie Cup rugby.

All the points came via the boots of the kickers, with the Kavaliers trying to play the more entertaining game.

The two teams traded penalties one-for-one as none of the teams were able to gain ascendancy in a game handled by South Africa's best referee, Jonathan Kaplan.

The Kavaliers played the best rugby, opting to keep the ball in hand on a windy afternoon which made passing and catching difficult, while the visitors preferred to use the boot to gain ground and keep their opponents pinned in the own half.

Griquas flyhalf Conrad Barnard kicked three penalties to score all his side's points, but he and scrumhalf Tobie Botes kicked away too much possession.

Inside centre Lionel Cornelius was the Man of the Match, running on the ball with pace and often breaking the advantage line.

In the final quarter Sevens specialist Stefan Basson breathed life into the game with his flair and running game, but he was unable to break the deadlock.

Scorers:

For Boland:<br /> Pens: Peach 2, Cornelius

For Griquas:<br /> Pens: Barnard 3

Teams:

Boland: 15 Justin Peach, 14 John Daniels, 13 Piet van Zyl (captain), 12 Lionel Cornelius, 11 Alvin Hugo, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Frankie Horne, 6 Zolani Mofu, 5 Bradley Mockford, 4 Coenie Basson, 3 Andries Human, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Wium, 17 WP Nel, 18 Cecil Kemp, 19 Whalied Heyns, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Deon Scholtz, 22 Stefan Basson.

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Gavin Passens, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Herkie Kruger (captain), 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Tobie Botes, 8 Heinrich Stride, 7 Stefan Gerber, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Wayne van Heerden, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 James van der Walt, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Dean Hopp, 17 Stef Roberts, 18 Cilliers Coetzer, 19 Gareth Krause, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Lafras Uys, 22 Egon Seconds.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Jerome America, Linston Manuels
TMO: Willie Roos

AFP