DHL Western Province fought hard in the rain but went down 26-19 against the Toyota Cheetahs at DHL Stadium on Saturday.

Despite having led by four points at half-time, DHL Western Province were unable to prevent the defending champions coming back after half-time and had to settle for a signle bonus point for their efforts in the end.

The home side made a strong start, with flyhalf Jurie Matthee landing two early penalties – the second of which was from the halfway line.

They followed that up with the opening try as Matthee got an offload away to Damian Markus and Angelo Davids ran a good line off the centre to go over.

The Bloemfontein side got on the scoreboard when captain Victor Sekekete forced his way over from close range.

Matthee slotted a third penalty, but the visitors had the final say in the first half as lock Carl Wegner scored in the corner to reduce DHL Western Province’s lead at the break to 16-12.

The Toyota Cheetahs took the lead for the first time in the game early in the second half, with wing Daniel Kasende scoring after a favourable bounce from a chip kick.

The visitors got over for their bonus point try 10 minutes from the end, with No.8 Jeandre Rudolph forcing his way over in the corner.

Replacement flyhalf Kyle Smith kicked a late penalty to salvage a bonus point for DHL Western Province in the end.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Try: Davids
Con: Matthee
Pens: Matthee 3, Smith

For Toyota Cheetahs:
Tries: Sekekete, Wegner, Kasende, Rudolph
Cons: Wentzel 2, Fortuin

DHL Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 JC Mars, 13 Justin Geduld, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Hendre Stassen, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Cameron Whitson, 22 Kyle Smith, 23 Joshua Boulle.