DHL Western Province continued their winning ways with a convincing 45-17 bonus-point victory against the South Western Districts Eagles at City Park on Saturday.
DHL Western Province continued their winning ways with a convincing 45-17 bonus-point victory against the South Western Districts Eagles at City Park on Saturday.
Coach John Dobson’s team outscored the visitors by six tries to two to pick up their 10th win from 11 games this season.
Following a tense opening period, the home side managed to strike first with Johnny Kotze finishing off the try by dotting down under the poles.
They followed that up shortly afterwards with a second try to hooker Chad Solomon from a driving maul to put them in control with a 14-0 lead.
The visitors regrouped and eventually got on the scoreboard through a try from wing Daniel Roberts which was converted by fullback Jacquin Jansen to make it 14-7.
The hosts scored their third try on the stroke of half-time, with a counter-attack from EW Viljoen setting up left wing Sibahle Maxwane for the try which gave them a 21-7 lead at the break.
The Eagles were first to score in the second half with a try from replacement hooker Kurt Haupt which put them back within striking distance at 21-14.
DHL Western Province responded with a penalty from flyhalf Rob du Preez, but the Eagles hit straight back with a long-range effort from Jansen to make it 24-17 after 55 minutes.
The home side wrapped up the bonus point and gave themselves a handy 14-point advantage when Tim Whitehead got over for the fourth try after getting a great offload from Du Preez.
The home side had their tails up and it did not take long for them to add to their tally, with flank Luke Stringer coming up with the ball from another powerful driving maul.
That put them in firm control with a 38-17 lead with 10 minutes left to play, and the final blow came from an intercept try at the death from captain Chris van Zyl which put the seal on a dominant performance.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Kotze, Solomon, Maxwane, Whitehead, Stringer, Van Zyl
Cons: Du Preez 6
Pen: Du Preez
For SWD Eagles:
Tries: Roberts, Haupt
Cons: Jansen 2
Pen: Jansen
DHL Western Province: 15 Dennis Cox, 14 EW Viljoen, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Luke Stringer, 6 Beyers de Villiers, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 David Ribbans, 3 Kyle Whyte, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Wes Chetty.
Replacements: 16 Cullen Collopy, 17 Christo van Wyk, 18 Jurie van Vuuren, 19 Dale Wilson, 20 Eital Bredenkamp, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Alvin Brandt.
SWD Eagles: 15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Charles Radebe, 13 Kirsten Heyns, 12 Martin Du Toit, 11 Daniel Roberts, 10 Hansie Graaff, 9 Dillin Snell, 8 Thorleif Havlorsen, 7 Christo Du Plessis, 6 Janneman Stander, 5 Lodewyk Uys, 4 Marco Kruger, 3 Nemo Roelofse, 2 Mark Pretoruis, 1 Juandre Digue.
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Pieter Stemmet, 18 Andy Ntsila, 19 Buran Parks, 20 Johan Steyn, 21 Thomas Kean, 22 Clint Wagmann.