DHL Western Province fought hard until the end and claimed a bonus point with a try after the hooter in their 24-17 Carling Currie Cup defeat against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
The visitors scored two tries in the second half, pushing their unbeaten hosts who top the standings.
The first half was a tense affair, with the only points coming from the boot of DHL Western Province flyhalf Kade Wolhuter to give them a 3-0 advantage.
The Toyota Cheetahs scored three tries in the second half, but they were pushed hard by DHL Western Province.
Wing Angleo Davids finished a fantastic team try in the corner, which saw DHL Western Province come from their own 22 to score.
With captain Nama Xaba shown a yellow card 10 minutes from the end, DHL Western Province were up against it, but they perservered and got a reward as replacement Roelof Smit scored after the hooter to salvage a bonus point for their efforts.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Davids, Smit
Cons: Wolhuter 2
Pen: Wolhuter
For Toyota Cheetahs:
Tries: M van der Merwe, G van der Merwe, Fortuin
Cons: Pienaar 3
Pen: Pienaar
DHL Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Ben-Jason Dixon, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Simon Miller, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Timothy Swiel, 23 Rikus Pretorius.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Jeandré Rudolph, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Ockie Barnard, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Dandrè Delport, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Marné Coetzee, 19 Sergio Moreira, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Rosko Specman.
