DHL Western Province went down 37-17 in their Carling Currie Cup encounter with defending champions Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The teams had been all square at half-time but the Free State side pulled away in the second half to take a full five points.

DHL Western Province made a fast start, storming into the 22 and launching from a solid scrum. Flyhalf Jurie Matthee chipped over the top and Jean-Luc du Plessis won the race to dot down and score the opening try.

The Toyota Cheetahs responded with a try from wing Daniel Kasende, who also collected a chip over the to to level matters.

The first half was a stop-start affair dominated by the referees’ whistle and both teams managed to take advantage by kicking a penalty, which saw them go into the half-time break deadlocked at 10-10.

The Toyota Cheetahs made a fast start to the second half with an early penalty and tries from centre Munier Hartzenberg and No.8 Jeandre Rudolph, which put them 27-10 up.

Despite that, DHL Western Province refused to give in and the replacements made an impact as flank CJ Velleman finished a period of pressure in the 22 by forcing his way over for the try from close range.

However, two late tries from Toyota Cheetahs hooker Vernon Paulo saw the home team secure a comfortable win in the end.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Du Plessis, Velleman
Cons: Matthee 2
Pen: Matthee

For Toyota Cheetahs:
Tries: Kasende, Hartzenberg, Rudolph, Paulo 2
Cons: Wentzel 3
Pen: Wentzel

DHL Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Hendre Stassen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Andre-Hugo Venter, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Labib Kannemeyer, 23 Damian Markus.