DHL Western Province opened their Absa Currie Cup title defence with a 24-24 draw against the Blue Bulls in a tense encounter at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
WP scored three tries to two in a tough clash, but they were denied the win by a never-say-die Blue Bulls side.
The Province tries were scored by fullback Gio Aplon, outside centre Pat Howard (in his first Absa Currie Cup start) and No.8 Nizaam Carr, with Gary Aswegen landing three conversions and an additional penalty goal.
For the Bulls, flyhalf Tony Jantjies kept the scoreboard ticking over, with a late try by replacement flanker Jean Cook drawing the scores level with just seconds to play.
There was just enough time for flyhalf Van Aswegen to kick a restart and DHL WP launched a last-ditch attack on the Bulls. However, the ball was just turned over in enemy territory and the Bulls were able to kick for touch with the draw in hand.
It was a tough opening weekend at home in the 2013 Absa Currie Cup, with the home sides having their hands full but Province did at least come away with the two points for a draw in front of a crowd of just over 20,000 at DHL Newlands.
Province showed great enterprise to lead 14-6 at half-time, with tries by Aplon and Howard (both converted by Van Aswegen), but the second half was a different match as the Bulls managed to slow the WP attack down.
The Bulls scored both their tries in the second half, as they fought back from 9-21 down, with Van Aswegen’s only penalty putting WP up by 24-19 with three minutes left.
Cook’s try made it 24-24, with Tony Jantjies missing the tough conversion from out wide and WP very nearly stole the game at the end from the restart; the Bulls coming away with the ball on the ground before hacking it into touch.
The scorers:
For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Aplon, Howard, Carr
Cons: Van Aswegen 3
Pen: Van Aswegen
For the Vodacom Blue Bulls:
Tries: Venter, Cook
Con: T Jantjies
Pens: T Jantjies 4
The teams:
DHL Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Louis Schreuder (vice-captain), 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Ross Geldenhuys, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Michael Rhodes, 19 Rohan Kitshoff, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Berton Klaasen.
Blue Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Sampie Mastriet, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Tony Jantjies, 9 Rudi Paige, 8 Jono Ross (captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Wiaan Liebenberg, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Morné Mellet.
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Marcell van der Merwe, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Jean Cook, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Waylon Murray, 22 Clayton Blommetjies.
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
