DHL Western Province fought hard but could not avoid a 32-25 defeat to the Toyota Free State Cheetahs at DHL Newlands on Friday.
DHL Western Province fought hard but could not avoid a 32-25 defeat to the Toyota Free State Cheetahs at DHL Newlands on Friday.
It was a tense match throughout which could have gone either way, and in the end the Bloemfontein side did jut enough to secure the win despite being outscored by three tries to two.
The first points came from the boot of DHL Western Province flyhalf Brandon Thomson who kicked an early penalty, and the home side followed that up with the opening try as a break from scrumhalf Jano Vermaak saw centre Huw Jones bolt through to score under the poles.
The visitors responded with two penalties of their own from flyhalf Fred Zeilinga before they took a 13-10 lead with a try from centre Nico Lee.
However, they did not have that lead for long as a blindside break from Jones saw Kobus van Wyk race over in the corner to put DHL Western Province back in front at 15-13.
Thomson would have the final say in the first half as a second penalty sent the hosts into the half-time break with a 18-13 advantage.
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs struck first in the second half with scrumhalf Tian Meyer crossing the tryline, and they followed that up withtwo penalties from Zelinga which put them 26-18 ahead.
DHL Western Province needed a spark and it was provided by Cheslin Kolbe whose clever grubber put them in position, and it was Leolin Zas who got over for the try to cut Toyota Free State Cheetahs lead to 26-25 with 15 minutes left to play.
The visitors would be next to score as another two penalties from the boot of Zeilinga sealed the 32-25 victory.
The scorers:
For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Jones, Van Wyk, Zas
Con: Thomson, Du Preez
Pens: Thomson 2
For Toyota Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Lee, Meyer
Cons: Zeilinga 2
Pens: Zeilinga 6
DHL Western Province: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 JP Smith, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Cheslin Kolbe.
Toyota Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Nico Lee, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Charles Marais.
Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Michael van der Spuy.
