Six-try WP thrash Golden Lions
Western Province made a statement of intent when they claimed a 39-3 bonus-point victory over the Golden Lions in their Currie Cup encounter in Cape Town on Friday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a dominant display from the home side and they outscored the Lions six tries to zero with Huw Jones and Seabelo Sentla leading the way with a brace apiece.
WP led 22-3 at half-time thanks to Jones' two tries and another five-pointer from Cobus Wiese with the visitors' only points coming via a penalty from Jaco van der Walt.
The hosts took the lead in the 16th minute when, against the run of play, Jones charged down a clearance kick from Anthony Volmink – in the Lions' 22 – before crossing for a deserved try.
SP Marais added the extras but the visitors reduced the deficit a few minutes later courtesy of Van der Walt's penalty which meant WP led 7-3 midway through the half.
But WP extended their lead shortly afterwards thanks to a fine try from Wiese. This, after Jano Vermaak caught the Lions napping when he played quickly from a penalty close to the halfway mark. He combined brilliantly with Nizaam Carr, who got a pass out to EW Viljoen and he did well to advance into the visitors' 22.
Chris van Zyl then took the ball close to the try-line before offloading to the on-rushing Wiese who crashed over for his first try for WP's senior side.
The next 15 minutes had little interesting to report with both sides committing several handling errors as they trirf to add to their points tally.
WP extended their lead in the 38 minute via a Damian Willemse penalty, who took over the goalkicking duties after Marais was forced off the field with an ankle injury.
And on the stroke of half-time the home side went further ahead thanks to another superb try, which Jones rounded off after Carr and Leyds started an attack deep inside their own half.
To make matters worse for the visitors, Volmink was yellow carded for a high tackle on Leyds in the build-up to that try.
Western Province made full use of their numerical advantage and increased their lead via further tries from Seabelo Senatla and Jano Vermaak early in the second half.
Senatla dotted down after gathering a grubber kick from Viljoen and Vermaak rounded off in the left-hand corner after running onto a pass from Carr just outside the Lions' 22.
The Lions stepped up a couple of gears on attack during the rest of the match but they were met with a solid defensive effort from the home side and just before full-time Senatla scored his second try after the ball went through several pairs of hands in the build-up.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Jones 2, Wiese, Senatla 2, Vermaak
Cons: Marais, Willemse 2
Pen: Willemse
For Golden Lions:
Pen: Van der Walt
Yellow Card: Volmink
Western Province: 15 SP Marais, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Michael Kumbirai, 19 Reuben de Villiers, 20 Steph de Wit, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Dan Kriel
Golden Lions: 15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Antony Volmink, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Marco Janse van Vuuren, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Robert Kruger, 6 Cyle Brink, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Jacques van Rooyen (c), 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Corne Fourie
Replacements: 16 Michael Willemse, 17 Johannes Jonker, 18 Rhyno Herbst, 19 Hacjivah Dayimani, 20 Jack Hart, 21 Siya Masuku, 22 Aphiwe Dyanty
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant Referees: Quinton Immelman, Kwezi Mqomboti
TMO: Shaun Veldsman