Zander du Plessis kicked eight penalties to steer Griquas to a Currie Cup victory over a Pumas team that had four players yellow-carded in Kimberley on Wednesday.

The home side was able to take a 21-13 lead into the break after a relatively evenly matched first half.

The game was deadlocked at 13-13 in the 31st minute, with Griquas getting on the board through three penalties from Zander du Plessis and a penalty try.

Despite losing two players – flank Daniel Maartens and prop IG Prinsloo – to yellow cards, the Pumas stayed level through tries from Corne Fourie and wing Jade Stighling.

A maul after the half-time hooter led to Alandre van Rooyen scoring to put the hosts in front. And Griquas increased their lead to 14 points as the Pumas continued to leak penalties while Prinsloo was off.

When the Pumas returned to 15 men, they reduced the deficit to 10 points through prop Simon Raw’s try. However, their ill-discipline came back to bite them once again as lock Brandon Valentyn was yellow-carded for a tip tackle, allowing Du Plessis to kick his sixth penalty of the match.

The result was all but sealed when, after Du Plessis’ seventh penalty – a massive 60-metre attempt – Munier Hartzenberg scored his first try for Griquas, winning the race to dot down a grubber.

In the final 10 minutes of the match, Ali Mgijima became the fourth Pumas player to be sent to the sin bin before Maartens saw a second yellow that necessitated a red card.

Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images