DHL Western Province beat Border Bulldogs 45-7 in front of a lively crowd in Mdantsane on Sunday to make it six straight wins in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

They were forced to work hard by a highly motivated Border side, but outscored them by six tries to one to secure a convincing win in the end in tough conditions.

The hosts were first to strike when they broke through the DHL Western Province defensive line, with flyhalf Oliver Zono scoring under the poles and then converting his own try to put them 7-0 up.

DHL Western Province were back on level terms before long, as fullback Craig Barry collected a clearance kick and scythed his way through, collecting his own chip to score a remarkable individual try which was converted by Brandon Thomson.

The visitors took the lead after 20 minutes, with a powerful driving maul seeing hooker Dean Muir go over for a try which put them 14-7 up once converted by Thomson.

After soaking up some considerable pressure from Border, who camped in their 22 at one stage, DHL Western Province then increased their lead with an impresive team try which saw Khanyo Ngcukana make the initial break, finding good support from captain Eital Bredenkamp and Justin Phillips who got it away to lock Brendan Esterhuizen to dive over.

Despite some late pressure from Border, DHL Western Province showed good defensive discipline to take a 21-7 advantage into the half-time break.

Both teams threw everything at each other at the start of the second half but neither were able to find the finishing touch.

DHL Western Province took their lead out to 24-7 with a Thomson penalty on the hour mark, which meant that Border would have to score three more times to overhaul them.

The bonus-point try came just 10 minutes from time as Johan du Toit forced his way over from close range and the floodgates opened after that as No.8 Jaco Coetzee and replacement Grant Hermanus both went over for late tries to seal an impressive victory.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Barry, Muir, Esterhuizen, Du Toit, Coetzee, Hermanus
Cons: Thomson 6
Pen: Thomson

For Border Bulldogs:
Try: Zono
Con: Zono

DHL Western Province: 15 Craig Barry, 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 Michal Hazner, 12 Brandon Thomson, 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Jaco Coetzee, 7 Johan du Toit, 6 Eital Bredenkamp, 5 Brendan Esterhuizen, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Michael Kumbirai, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Frans van Wyk, 18 Ruben de Villiers, 19 Nyasha Tarusenga, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Harlon Klaasen, 22 Grant Hermanus.