A new-look DHL Western Province team put on a brave performance against the Sharks at DHL Newlands on Saturday, before going down 20-28 in an Absa Currie Cup match with little consequence on the final play-off standings.
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With a top-of-the-log finish assured (for the second year in succession), and with it a home passage through the semifinals and final, DHL WP head coach Allister Coetzee wisely mixed his selections up for this weekend.
In all, Coetzee made 14 changes from the previous week, as the canny coach opted to “expand the capacity” of his squad ahead of the play-offs.
Veteran prop Brok Harris was chosen to skipper the team, whilst flyhalf Kurt Coleman, in his 50th match for DHL Western Province, stepped in as vice-captain and Neil Rautenbach (an 11th hour starting replacement for Tiaan Liebenberg), Oliver Kebble, Jurie van Vuuren, Devon Williams and EW Viljoen were all handed first-ever Absa Currie Cup starts.
The Sharks opened strongly through a Sibusiso Sithole try in the first minute, but it was all DHL WP for the remainder of the first half as they racked up 14 unanswered points after taking the lead through two Kurt Coleman penalties.
Stunning tries from outside centre Pat Howard (a long-range counter-attack effort) and flyhalf Kurt Coleman (shrugging off a tackle on the Sharks tryline after a strong build-up) saw the DHL Newlands Faithful on their feet, as Coleman converted both tries to go with his two penalties for a 20-11 half-time lead.
The Sharks slowed things down considerably in the second half as the boot of Lionel Cronje edged them closer to the DHL WP score, before drawing level at 20-20 after 54 minutes in front of a crowd of almost 27,000.
A try by replacement prop Lourens Adriaanse in the 64th minute saw the Sharks regain the lead for the first time since the first minute of play and the visitors managed to keep their noses in front before a 75th minute Fred Zeilinga penalty goal stretched their lead to eight points.
Whilst no team likes losing, the match showed off DHL WP’s incredible depth and the side will move into the 2014 Absa Currie Cup play-offs with plenty of confidence – having sewn up home-ground advantage last weekend already.
The scorers:
For DHL Western Province:
Tries: Howard, Coleman
Cons: Coleman 2
Pens: Coleman 2
For the Sharks:
Tries: Sithole, Adriaanse
Pens: Cronje 5, Zeilinga
The teams:
DHL Western Province: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 EW Viljoen, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Brok Harris (captain), 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Oliver Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 Gavin Annandale, 19 Anton van Zyl, 20 Patrick O’Brien, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Chevandre van Schoor.
Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Sibusiso Sithole, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu (captain), 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Stephan Lewies, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Monde Hadebe, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais. 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 JC Astle, 20 Khaya Majola, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Fred Zeilinga.
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Lourens van der Merwe, Marc van Zyl
Television Match Official: Shaun Veldsman
