DHL Western Province secured their place in the Currie Cup semifinals with a hard-fought 30-28 victory against the Boland Cavaliers at DHL Newlands on Friday.

DHL Western Province secured their place in the Currie Cup semifinals with a hard-fought 30-28 victory against the Boland Cavaliers at DHL Newlands on Friday.

The win sees DHL Western Province claim third place on the standings at the end of the league phase of the season, which means they will travel to Pretoria to face the second-placed Vodacom Blue Bulls for their semifinal on Saturday, October 15.

The visitors were first to strike as flank Shaun Adendorff finished off a sustained attacking movement to give them an early 7-0 lead.

DHL Western Province responded by dominating territory and possession, but were not able to get any reward as the Boland defence held out under pressure.

They eventually got on the scoreboard with a penalty from flyhalf Rob du Preez on the 20 minute mark, and it was not long before they hit the lead through a counter-attack try which was finished off by right wing Scott van Breda.

After winning a turnover at a Boland line-out in their 22, the ball was sent wide to Cheslin Kolbe, who broke the defensive line before drawing the last defender and putting Van Breda over for the try.

They followed that up with a try from the forwards, as flank Kobus van Dyk crashed over from a driving maul just before half-time, to put the hosts 17-7 ahead at the break.

Boland were first to score in the second half, as fullback Adriaan Carelse scored from a counter-attack to reduce the deficit to 17-14.

DHL Western Province responded with a penalty from Du Preez, but the game was turned on its head shortly afterwards as two quick tries from Boland gave them a 28-20 lead with 15 minutes left to play.

First prop Francois Hanekom and then flank Jacques Engelbrecht crossed the whitewash for the visitors, which meant that DHL Western Province needed to score twice to keep their play-off hopes alive.

The home side came up with the try they so desperately needed when replacement lock David Ribbans forced his way over, to make it a one-point game with just seven minutes left.

A late penalty from Du Preez was enough to seal a tense win in the end, which booked an eighth consecutive semifinal spot for DHL Western Province.

The scorers:

For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Van Breda, Van Dyk, Ribbans
Cons: Du Preez 3
Pens: Du Preez 3

For Boland Cavaliers:
Tries: Adendorff, Carelse, Hanekom, Engelbrecht
Cons: Kotze 4

Teams:

DHL Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Scott van Breda, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 JP Smith, 19 Dave Ribbans, 20 Jurie van Vuuren, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Werner Kok.

Boland Cavaliers: 15 Adriaan Carelse, 14 Logan Basson, 13 Gerrit van Wyk, 12 PJ Vermeulen, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Theuns Kotze, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Zandré Jordaan, 7 Jacques Engelbrecht, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Hanno Kitshoff, 4 Shaun McDondald, 3 Francois Hanekom, 2 Clemen Lewis (captain), 1 Basil Short.
Replacements: 16 Francois Esterhuyzen, 17 Enoch Mnyaka, 18 Linda Thwala, 19 Wayne Wilschut, 20 Joubert Horn, 21 Gerhard Jordaan, 22 Sergio Torrens.