DHL Western Province scored their bonus-point try after the hooter to seal a 28-14 win against the Phakisa Pumas at DHL Newlands on Friday.

There were four tries in total from DHL Western Province, but the decisive final five-pointer came from loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff, to secure the five log points against the Mpumalanga outfit.

The home side started strong, camping in the opposition half without being able to finish, but the Phakisa Pumas would be first to score as a counter-attack resulted in outside centre Erich Cronje wriggling over for a try.

That would be their only points of the first half however, as DHL Western Province dominated both territory and possession. There were a number of breakdown penalties either way, but the hosts had a clear advantage in the set-pieces.

The visitors were reduced to 14 men when lock Le Roux Roets was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle and replacement flyhalf Kade Wolhuter made no mistake with the resulting penalty to put DHL Western Province on the scoreboard.

They continued to exploit their advantage up front and the pressure eventually told as hooker Scarra Ntubeni crashed over for a try in the corner from a driving maul.

DHL Western Province continued to press home their advantage, but the Phakisa Pumas defence held out until half-time, with the home side taking an 8-5 advantage into the break.

The second try came shortly after half-time as DHL Western Province showed good patience on attack to work themselves into the 22 before the ball was swung out to Angleo Davids who stepped a few defender to score.

They followed that up with a second maul try from Ntubeni, who powered over for a five-pointer before being replaced by Bongi Mbonambi. The Phakisa Pumas responded with a penalty from Devon Williams to make it 18-8 following a high tackle in front of the poles.

The teams traded penalties once again, with first Wolhuter and then Williams slotting kicks to make it 21-11 heading into the final 20 minutes.

DHL Western Province were reduced to 14 when Herschel Jantjies was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements from his side. The home side were forced to defend and eventually gave away another penalty, which Williams kicked over.

However, DHL Western Province were not done and showed great resolve and patience to work Steven Kitshoff over for the bonus-point try after the hooter, which sealed the 28-14 win.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Ntubeni 2, Davids, Kitshoff
Con: Wolhuter
Pens: Wolhuter 2

For Phakisa Pumas:
Pens: Williams 3
Try: Cronje

DHL Western Province: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Michal Haznar, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Tristan Leyds, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jaco Coetzee, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 David Meihuizen, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Kwenzo Blose, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Johan du Toit, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Dan du Plessis.

Phakisa Pumas: Tapiwa Mafura, Luther Obi, Erich Cronje, Ali Mgijima, Ruwellyn Isbell, Tiaan Botes, Chriswill September, Willie Engelbrecht, Darrien Landsberg, Daniel Maartens, Pieter Janse van Vuuren (captain), Le Roux Roets, Ignatius Prinsloo, Simon Westraadt, Morgan Naude. Replacements: Marko Janse van Rensburg, Wikus Groenewald, Brandon Valentyn, Ewart Potgieter, Ginter Smuts, Devon Williams, Japie Klienhans, Liam Hendricks.