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DHL WP hold off Eagles in Oudtshoorn

PUBLISHED: June 25, 2017


DHL Western Province were forced to work hard for a tense 46-41 victory against SWD Eagles in their SuperSport Rugby Challenge clash in Oudtshoorn on Sunday.

It was the eighth consecutive victory of the campaign for coach John Dobson’s team as they ended the league phase of the competition unbeaten to set up a home quarterfinal at Green Point Track next week.

In an entertaining encounter which saw 14 tries in total, DHL Western Province outscored the home side by eight tries to six to finish as top seeds heading into the play-offs.

DHL Western Province made a dominant start as they took the game to their hosts in the early stages and they were rewarded when flank Nyasha Tarusenga forced his way over for the opening try.

SWD hit back immediately with a try of their own from tighthead prop Theunis Niewoudt and it was not long before they took the lead as right wing Kirsten Heyns crossed the tryline soon afterwards.

The hosts kept he pressure on DHL Western Province as left wing Adri Jacobs went over for their third try to give them a comfortable 19-5 advantage with less than 20 minutes played.

To their credit, DHL Western Province did not panic and they would score 22 unanswered points to take a 27-19 lead into the half-time break.

The first step in the fight back was a try from lock Eddie Zandberg who crashed over from a line-out.

SWD were then reduced to 14 men when inside centre Marlou van Niekerk was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements from his team.

DHL Western Province took advantage immediately as the ball was worked wide to fullback Craig Barry who had an easy run-in for the try.

The visitors were down a man themselves when hooker Dean Muir was shown a yellow card for a cynical infringement, but that did not stop them from scoring a further two tries, both going to Marcello Sampson.

First the right wing won a high ball and raced away for a try which both secured the bonus point and put his team in the lead, before scoring on the stroke of half-time to give his team an eight point advantage at the break.

SWD scored first in the second half with a penalty from flyhalf Leighton Eksteen, but DHL Western Province responded with a second try from Barry after a patient build-up.

The hosts were back within range though when replacement Quaid Langeveldt got over for their bonus-point try which reduced the deficit to 34-29 with 30 minutes left to play.

They were on level terms shortly afterwards as Dillin Snel chased down a kick ahead from Heyns to score out wide and make it 34-34 heading into the last 20 minutes.

DHL Western Province went back in front when Barry was put over for his hat-trick and an intercept try from Bjorn Basson gave them some breathing space.

The hosts would have the final say as replacement Johannes Uys scored their sixth try, but it was not enough as DHL Western Province held on for a tense win in the end.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Tarusenga, Zandberg, Barry 3, Sampson 2, Basson
Cons: Thomson 2, Jaggers

For SWD Eagles:
Tries: Niewoudt, Heyns, Jacobs, Langeveldt, Snel, Uys
Cons: Eksteen 4
Pen: Eksteen

DHL Western Province: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Jaco Coetzee, 7 Nyasha Tarusenga, 6 Eital Bredenkamp (captain), 5 Eddie Zandberg, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Michael Kumbirai.
Replacements: 16 Percy Mngadi, 17 Piet-Louw Strauss, 18 Luke Stringer, 19 Johan du Toit, 20 Paul de Wet, 21 Errol Jaggers, 22 Dan Kriel.