FEATURED

DHL WP lose it at the death

PUBLISHED: June 14, 2014


DHL Western Province suffered a last-gasp 28-30 defeat to the Namibian Weltwitschias at a jam-packed Dr Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The young DHL WP team were leading 28-27 going into the final act of injury-time, but the hosts won a penalty which Worsie Kotze – who missed just one kick all day – landed for a famous win.

Province, with a host of Under-21 players in the selection mix and just a few Super Rugby players, won the try-count by three to two, but it was just not enough in the end for the youngsters from Cape Town who led 13-9 at half-time.

EW Viljoen, who is still eligible for the WP Under-19 team, scored his team’s opening try in the third minute, with wingers JP Lewis and Devon Williams crossing in the second half as the visitors led 25-17 with eight minutes left.

Namibian replacement Johan Deysel crossed in the 77th minute of regulation time to put his team ahead by 27-25, but with seven minutes of injury-time being added on Province – despite also suffering a few injuries in the game – did not panic.

DHL WP captain Gary van Aswegen calmly slotted a penalty goal with two minutes of injury-time remaining, but Namibia then won a penalty in the final passage of play – WP having been deemed to have been holding on in the tackle.

Kotze slotted the kick to bring about full-time and plenty of celebration for the hosts who will take on the Bulls here next week as they continue to build up towards 2015 Rugby World Cup qualification.

***View a match gallery HERE!***

The scorers:

For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Viljoen, Lewis, Williams
Cons: Du Preez, Van Aswegen
Pens: Du Preez 2, Van Aswegen

For the Namibian Weltwitschias:
Tries: Du Plessis, Deysel
Con: Kotze
Pens: Kotze 6

The teams:

Namibian Weltwitschias: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Conrad Marais, 13 Heinrich Smith, 12 Darryl da la Harpe, 11 Johan Tromp, 10 Theuns Kotze (vice-captain), 9 Arthur Bouwer, 8 PJ Van Lill (captain), 7 Tinus du Plessis, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Morne Blom, 4 Munee Tjiuza, 3 Andre Schlechter, 2 Rathony Becker, 1 Johnny Redelinghuys.
Replacements: 16 DG Wiese, 17 Jaco Engels, 18 Shaun du Preeez, 19 Stefan Neustadt, 20 Awie Thompson, 21 Eneill Buitendag, 22 Johan Deysel, 23 Divan Visser, 24 Thomasua Forbes.

DHL Western Province: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 JP Lewis, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Gary van Aswegen (captain), 11 Devon Williams, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dylon Frylinck, 8 Rayn Smid (vice-captain), 7 Carel du Preez, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Jean Kleyn, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Justin Ackerman, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Freddie Kirsten, 17 Digby Webb, 18 Jan Uys, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Niyaaz Johnson, 21 Kyle Lombard, 22 Craig Barry.

Referee: Oscar Lambert