DHL Western Province scored six tries on their way to a 36-7 SuperSport Rugby Challenge victory against Border Bulldogs in a windy East London on Saturday.

A first-half hat-trick from wing Duncan Saal set the platform and there were three further tries from Josh Stander, Labib Kannemeyer and Johan du Toit in the second half to seal the win.

DHL Western Province went through the inaugural SuperSport Rugby Challenge unbeaten last year and are still yet to taste defeat, starting this year’s campaign with consecutive away wins against the EP Elephants and Border Bulldogs.

The visitors played with the wind at their backs in the first half, with Saal crossing the whitewash three times and the only points against them coming from a penalty try.

Stander and Kannemeyer both scored in the corner after half-time, making the conversion attempts extremely difficult in the windy conditions.

There was time for one final try from Du toit, which was converted by Stander to seal the win and maintain DHL Western Province’s unbeaten record in the competition.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Saal 3, Stander, Kannemeyer, Du Toit
Cons: Stander 3

For Border Bulldogs:
Try: Penalty try

DHL Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Dan Kriel, 12 Joshua Stander, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Luke Stringer (captain), 7 Johan du Toit, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 Ruben de Villiers, 4 Marno Redelinghuys, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Brendon Esterhuizen, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Dan du Plessis.