A late penalty from Damian Willemse saw DHL Western Province claim a thrilling 46-45 victory against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
There were 13 tries in total as the hosts scoed seven and DHL Western Province crossed the line six times in what was a high-octane encounter.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls held a slender 19-17 lead at half-time and looked to have sealed victory when centre JT Jackson went over for their seventh try with three minutes left, but DHL Western Province never gave in and were rewarded as Willemse split the uprights to secure a tough win, their first away from home this season.
Lock JD Schickerling and flyhalf Robert du Preez got over for tries in the first half, with Du Preez converting both and adding a penalty.
The second half saw wing Seabelo Senatla score a double in addition to tries from Nizaam Carr and Huw Jones, before Willemse landed the final blow from the kicking tee to secure the dramatic win.
The win sees DHL Western Province move into second place on the Currie Cup standings, with two matches left before the play-offs.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Schickerling, Du Preez, Carr, Senatla 2, Jones
Cons: Du Preez 5
Pens: Du Preez, Willemse
For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Gelant, De Jager, Marutlulle, Van Zyl, Matthews, Beyers
Cons: Boshoff 3, Jantjies
Teams:
DHL Western Province: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Ruhan Nel.
Vodacom Blue Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Burger Odendaal (captain), 12 JT Jackson, 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Aston Fortuin, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Jano Venter, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Ulrich Beyers.
