Two tries from wing JP Lewis saw DHL Western Province claim a hard-fought 27-20 victory over the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.

Two tries from wing JP Lewis saw DHL Western Province claim a hard-fought 27-20 victory over the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.

The quicksilver wing scored a try in each half as DHL Western Province secured their fifth win of the campaign.

The visitors made an assured start to the game, winning a number of early penalties in Pumas territory, and flyhalf Scott van Breda was able to take advantage by slotting three unanswered penalties which gave them a 9-0 advantage.

The home side got on the scoreboard when their flyhalf Justin van Staden kicked a penalty, but they were reduced to 14 men soon afterwards when prop De-Jay Terblanche was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements from his side, and Van Breda made it 12-3 with the resuting penalty.

Despite that setback the Pumas would score the first try of the match as a well-worked set move put wing Marcello Sampson over to cut DHL Western Province’s lead to 12-10.

The Pumas grabbed the lead soon afterwards when Van Staden slotted another penalty, but they did not have it for long as DHL Western Province responded with a superb individual try from JP Lewis who got the ball on the blindside and broke a number of tackles to put his side 17-13 ahead at half-time.

The home side struck early in the second half as a try from replacement flank Carel Greeff gave them a 20-17 lead.

The scores were level at 20-20 when Van Breda slotted another penalty, leaving the match in the balance with 30 minutes to play.

DHL Western Province showed great discipline on defence to soak up wave after wave of pressure from the Pumas, and then managed to break out from their own half with the final pass releasing Lewis for a great team try which secured a hard-fought victory right at the death.

The scorers:

For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Lewis 2
Con: Van Breda
Pens: Van Breda 5

For Steval Pumas:
Tries: Sampson, Greeff
Cons: Van Staden 2
Pens: Van Staden 2

DHL Western Province: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 JP Lewis, 10 Scott van Breda, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Janco Venter, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Kyle Whyte, 18 Meyer Swanepoel, 19 Beyers de Villiers, 20 Damian Stevens, 21 Sibahle Maxwane, 22 Berton Klaassen.

Steval Pumas: 15 Heinrich Steyl, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Hoffmann Maritz, 12 Hennie Skorbinski, 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Lambert Groenewald, 7 Nardus van der Walt, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Marne Coetzee, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 De-Jay Terblanche.
Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 Jacques Kotze, 18 Jannie Stander, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Emile Temperman, 21 Marlou van Niekerk, 22 Tyler Fisher.