DHL Western Province are the 2014 Absa Currie Cup champions, after beating the Xerox Golden Lions by 19-16 in a tense final at DHL Newlands on Saturday.

Both teams scored a try each, but, ultimately, it was the boot of flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis, the official Absa Man of the Match, which saw the hosts through to a second title in three years in front of a near sold-out and passionate crowd.

The home team dominated the opening exchanges with the possession and territory statistics favouring them, which allowed them to apply pressure on the Xerox Golden Lions. They earned the rewards as Catrakilis opened the scoring in the third minute with a penalty and added another minutes later to hand his team a 6-0 lead 10 minutes into the match.

The visitors, however, tried hard to stamp their authority in the following minutes which resulted in a handful of point-scoring chances. But they were unable to capitalise on this as flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff missed two penalty attempts, while the team was unable convert two possible try-scoring chances as DHL Western Province shut them out on defence. Such was the effectiveness of the home team’s defence, they forced the Xerox Golden Lions back in the tackle on several occasions.

The hosts stretched their score to 13-0 in the 35th minute after regaining possession thanks to a try by centre Jaco Taute, who received the ball out wide and cut inside into space to cross the tryline.

The Xerox Golden Lions received their last opportunity to open up their scoring on the stroke of half-time as wing Ruan Combrinck had a shot at goal, but this also proved unsuccessful, leaving the team scoreless at the break.

The Johannesburg side, however, managed to score their first points five minutes into the second half compliments of a penalty by Boshoff.

This bolstered their confidence immensely as they scored their first try minutes later after gathering a kick by the hosts and powering their way up-field, which saw fullback Jaco van der Walt dive over in the corner. Boshoff’s conversion was successful, which allowed them to reduce the deficit to 13-10.

The Xerox Golden Lions levelled the scores at 13-13 with 23 minutes left as Boshoff slotted over his second penalty after DHL Western Province infringed in a scrum five metres from their tryline. But this was shortlived as Catrakilis kicked a penalty two minutes later to nudge his team back into the lead.

The accurate goalkicker added another three-pointer minutes later to extend the hosts’ lead to 19-13 with 14 minutes to go.

The battle of the kickers continued as Boshoff had another shot at goal, but his attempt hit the upright. However, Combrinck added three points in the dying minutes to reduce the hosts lead to only three points with four minutes left.

Boshoff had another penalty attempt in the dying seconds, which would have levelled the scores and forced the match into extra-time, but he pushed it wide, which secured the victory for DHL Western Province.

It was a massively successful day for Western Province Rugby at their DHL Newlands home, with the Under-19s and Senior teams lifting silverware and the Under-21s going down narrowly in their final after topping the regular season log once again.

DHL WP captain Juan de Jongh lauded his team’s temperament on the day, saying: “The guys learnt a lot from last year and stayed calm under pressure.

“I’m a proud captain, proud of the team and I’d like to thank the coaches, management and our amazing DHL Newlands fans!”

The scorers:

For DHL Western Province:
Try: Taute
Con: Catrakilis
Pens: Catrakilis 4

For Golden Lions:
Try: Combrinck
Con: Boshoff
Pens: Boshoff 3

The teams:

DHL Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Pat Cilliers (vice-captain), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Gerbrandt Grobler, 19 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Michael van der Spuy.

Xerox Golden Lions: 15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Armand van der Merwe, 17 Julian Redelinghuys, 18 Willie Britz, 19 Warwick Tecklenburg, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Mark Richards, 22 Harold Vorster.

Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper, Lesego Legoete
Television Match Official: Deon van Blommestein