DHL Western Province pulled away from the EP Elephants in the second half to pick up a resounding 75-28 victory in their SuperSport Rugby Challenge encounter at Wolfson Stadium on Saturday.
Head Coach John Dobson’s team trailed by two points at half-time, but scored eight tries after the break and 11 in total to continue their unbeaten run.
Both teams scored three tries in an entertaining first half, with the hosts going into half-time with a two-point lead following three successful conversions.
DHL Western Province got things started with flank Chris Massyn going over for the opening try, but the Elephants responded with two tries of their own in quick sucession, to make it 14-5.
Flyhalf Josh Stander found Grant Hermanus with a pinpoint cross-kick for the wing to score before adding the conversion himself to narrow the deficit to 14-12.
Both teams scored again before half-time, with DHL Western Province wing Edwill van der Merwe’s try reducing the deficit to 21-19 at the break.
DHL Western Province took control of the game after half-time, with centre Dan du Plessis getting over for a double, while there were also tries for loose forwards Luke Stringer and Steph de Wit.
The home side responded with a try of their own, but further tries from Ernst van Rhyn, Tristan Leyds, Chad Solomon and Duncan Saal saw DHL Western Province claim a comfortable win in the end through a dominant second half performance.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Massyn, Hermanus, Van der Merwe, Du Plessis 2, Stringer, De Wit, Van Rhyn, Leyds, Solomon, Saal
Cons: Stander 6, Leyds 3
DHL Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Grant Hermanus, 13 Dan Kriel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Joshua Stander, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Luke Stringer (captain), 6 Chris Massyn, 5 Johan du Toit, 4 Brendon Esterhuizen, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Michael Kumbirai, 18 Ernst van Rhyn, 19 Nyasha Tarusenga, 20 Steph de Wit, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Duncan Saal.
