A crowd of more than 10 000 turned out to bid farewell to Corne Krige and witnessed Western Province (WP) hand out a rugby lesson to Griqualand West by beating them 63-6 at Newlands on Friday night.
Province led 20-0 at half-time and ended a run of dismal performances, including two home defeats.
Well as the veteran Krige played, fullback Earl Rose threatened to steal the show with a superb performance that earned him the man-of-the-match award.
Another Newlands stalwart, Braam van Straaten, made an inauspicious return when his first kick went out on the full shortly before Pieter Benade opened the scoring with a penalty in the fourth minute.
The Province pack gave the home side the ascendancy and the backs were always keen to run with the ball. However, it was only in the 18th minute that the visitors’ line was crossed. Rose rounded off a full backline movement to score under the posts.
Ten minutes later another telling run by Rose saw WP earn a line-out on the Griquas goal-line. The ball was swung to the opposite touchline, where Rose had the last pass before Gus Theron burst through the defence.
Griquas had only one real chance of scoring in the first period, but they failed to make use of two penalties awarded near the WP line. Shortly before the break, a fine take by Krige in the line-out forced Griquas into conceding another penalty, which Benade goaled to complete the first-half scoring.
Van Straaten opened the Griquas account early in the second half with a penalty, but the home side replied with a third try as Benade intercepted a poor pass. Ten minutes later sustained pressure saw Krige score in the corner to secure the bonus point.
As the gaps opened, WP ran riot with Rose, Niel de Kock and the pacy Egon Seconds scoring after running rings around the defenders.
The biggest cheer came when Krige landed a cheeky drop goal shortly before the end. Griquas’ best movement came to naught as the clock ran down, a poor pass ending a promising attack. Substitute flanker David Hendricks scored the final try on the hooter after some more electrifying running from Rose.
Bayed on by the crowd, Krige stepped up to attempt the conversion. It was a dismal failure, but it mattered not as his grateful teammates carried him shoulder high on a lap of honour. — Sapa