DHL Western Province will host a home Currie Cup semifinal at DHL Newlands after they came from behind to beat the Cell C Sharks 31-20 in Durban on Saturday.
Having trailed 13-3 at half-time, DHL Western Province showed incredible character to fight back and secure what was ultimately a comfortable bonus-point win against the tabletopping Cell C Sharks who had won their 10 previous games.
This means that DHL Western Province finish the league phase of the Currie Cup in second position and will host a semifinal at DHL Newlands next week.
The hosts were first to score at Kings Park with a try from centre Marius Louw, which was followed up by a penalty from flyhalf Curwin Bosch to give them a 10-0 lead.
DHL Western Province got on the scoreboard with a penalty from flyhalf Rob du Preez, but those would be their only points of the first half, with a Bosch drop-goal giving the Cell C Sharks a 10-point advantage at the break.
DHL Western Province came out in a determined mood in the second half and they soon got some reward as Du Preez scored two tries, both under the poles, in quick succession to give them the lead.
They were not done there however, as first scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage darted over before lock JD Schickerling secured the bonus point by barging over the line.
The Cell C Sharks scored a late try from wing Kobus van Wyk, but it was not enough to make a difference to the result as DHL Western Province claimed a vital away win which sees them take some important momentum into the play-offs.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Du Preez 2, Duvenage, Schickerling
Cons: Du Preez 4
Pen: Du Preez
For Cell C Sharks:
Tries: Louw, Van Wyk
Cons: Bosch 2
Pen: Bosch
DG: Bosch
DHL Western Province: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Ruhan Nel, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Jan de Klerk, 19 Kobus van Dyk, 20 Justin Phillips, 21 Werner Kok, 22 EW Viljoen.
Cell C Sharks: 15 Garth April, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Marius Louw, 11 S’bu Nkosi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Ruan Botha (captain), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Jean Droste, 19 Jean-Luc du Preez, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Tristan Blewett, 22 Kobus van Wyk.
