The DHL Western Province Emerging team suffered a heartbreaking 30-31 defeat to the Blue Bulls in the grand finale to the 2013 Amateur Provincial series at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
Province were leading 30-26 with about seven minutes remaining on the clock, before the Bulls scored what ended up being the winning try.
The DHL WP Emerging team had a chance to win the game with a penalty right at the end, but Raymond Olivier was unable to convert the tough effort at goal, just pushing it left of the uprights.
Both teams scored three tries each on the day, with the Bulls leading 17-13 at half-time.
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The overall Amateur Provincial Champions are crowned each year following a round-robin series between the winners of the respective Central, Southern and Northern Amateur Provincial competitions.
This year, the KZN Duikers (Central champions), Emerging WP (Southern) and the Blue Bulls (Northern) featured in the three-match National Amateur Series, with WP beating KZN 25-21 in Durban in the first match on October 5 and the Blue Bulls thumping KZN 56-18 in Pretoria last weekend.
With KZN officially knocked out of the running for the title after suffering defeats in both their matches, Saturday's clash between the WP Emerging team and the Blue Bulls effectively became the final of the competition, with the Bulls just having too much for the home side.
The DHL Western Province Emerging team scorers:
Tries: Erasmus, Newman, Smith
Cons: Olivier 3
Pens: Olivier 3
The DHL WP Emerging team (v Blue Bulls): 15 Raymond Olivier, 14 Sinethemba Maphaqa, 13 Danwill Erasmus, 12 Morgan Newman, 11 Craig Pheiffer, 10 Shane Vallender, 9 Louis Nel, 8 Jose Julies, 7 Waldo Prinsloo, 6 Oswin Mentoor, 5 Juan-Paul Kellerman, 4 Pallo Manuel, 3 Christo van Wyk, 2 Shameegh Allen (captain), 1 Denzil Riddles.
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensberg, 17 Gabri Lourens, 18 Ryen Etzebeth, 19 Stef Botha, 20 Dylon Frylinck, 21 Andy Huysamen, 22 Caleb Smith.
Coach: Lionel Langenhoven
Assistant coach: Kevin Musikanth
Manager: Gavin Sheldon
