DHL Western Province showed plenty of guts and commitment to beat a gallant Toyota Free State Cheetahs by 15-14 in their Absa Currie Cup, Round Two clash at a wet DHL Newlands on Saturday.
The home side left it a bit late, scoring the winner in the 76th minute through captain Deon Fourie, but the hosts will be very happy with their first victory of the 2013 season after last weekend's 24-24 draw against the Blue Bulls.
It also sees WP move up to second place on the 2013 Absa Currie Cup log – just behind the selfsame Bulls on points' difference only; Province and the Bulls the only unbeaten teams in the competition after two rounds.
But WP's visitors from Bloemfontein made life very tough for their opponents tonight – as did the rain and wet conditions throughout.
The Cheetahs led 14-0 in almost no time at DHL Newlands, flyhalf Elgar Watts dancing past some tight forwards for a clinical try in the seventh minute, before winger Riaan Smit intercepted a pass from Gary van Aswegen in the 16th minute with the home side strong on the attack.
Smit's try was a massive shot in the arm for the visitors, with WP a pass or two away from an opening try, but both conversions were landed – ironically by Smit and Watts of each other's tries – and the visitors led for most (76 minutes!) of the match.
Michael Rhodes, in his first start for DHL Western Province, had the home crowd on their feet in the 23rd minute – just a minute after a successful Gary van Aswegen penalty – by racing away for a memorable try from a stray Cheetahs line-out throw (on their 10m line) and from then on the WP team were snapping at Free State's heels.
However, the half ended on a low for Province when loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff was yellow-carded in the 34th minute and the Men from Free State led 14-10 at the half-time break.
The score remained unchanged until deep into the second half. Despite WP enjoying a long period of dominance that last pass – or final touch – let them down and the visitors were able to keep their noses in front.
The scoreboard clock was ticking down at a furious pace and, eventually, Province's dominance told when captain Deon Fourie crashed over in the left-hand corner from another powerful rolling maul – the pack having done just that minutes before.
Replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman, who had come on minutes before, had the tricky conversion (from far left) to contend with and he was not able to make it a seven-point gain, as the hosts took the lead for the first time in the game at 15-14.
The Cheetahs came storming back and won a penalty which they kicked to touch, only to cough up possession in close quarters after a strong WP tackle.
There was just enough time for a scrum in WP's 22, which replacement scrumhalf Nic Groom fed. His feed was straight – crucial with the new scrum-laws! – and Coleman hung onto his low pass and booted the ball over his own deadball line, referee Jonathan Kaplan blowing his final whistle to signal the Province victory.
The scorers:
For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Rhodes, Fourie
Con: Van Aswegen
Pen: Van Aswegen
For the Toyota Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Watts, Smit
Cons: Smit, Watts
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, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Gerbrandt Grobler, 19 Rohan Kitshoff, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Ryan Nell.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Johannes Prinsloo (captain), 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Teboho Mohoje, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Willie du Plessis, 22 Joubert Engelbrecht.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
