WP run in six tries to crush Boland Cavaliers' Currie Cup home semi-final hopes

Western Province saved some pride in the Currie Cup yesterday afternoon in Cape Town, dispatching the Boland Cavaliers 40-22 for their first win of the tournament.

Fielding an almost full-strength United Rugby Championship (URC) side in the 100th cap of captain Deon Fourie, the hosts were slow out of the blocks at the DHL Stadium but found their rhythm in the second half to pull away from their opponents.

The visitors suffered three yellow cards, despite taking the lead early in the game, and that effectively had them playing with 14 men for 50 minutes of the Western Cape derby. That allowed Province to start dominating, scoring six tries in the process for a bonus-point win.

Boland now have it all to do away from home in the Currie Cup semi-finals after failing to collect the victory that would’ve put them in the top two of the competition.

They started well and ruled the opening stanza of the game, putting WP under massive pressure. They had the ball possession and played in the right areas of the field; however, their inability to capitalise on opportunities came back to bite them in the end.

While they had three yellow cards, they also had three excellent team tries disallowed due to forward passes. Had they converted one or two of those opportunities, the match would’ve ended much tighter. For all their efforts in the first half, they could only go into the break with an 8-7 lead.

Province struggled for momentum, which could be due to fielding 13 new players and only retaining two from last weekend. After the halftime talk, and when Boland’s opening try-scorer Dayan van der Westhuizen was yellow-carded, the team finally kicked into action.

Five tries in the second half sealed the deal for WP, and they produced some entertaining rugby alongside their neighbours to entertain the 8,000-strong crowd.

The Cavaliers missed a couple of injured players; however, this would’ve been good preparation for the playoffs. They know they must sharpen up on their discipline and maintain their physicality and intensity for 80 minutes to progress to the final two.

Stormers director of rugby John Dobson will be pleased with the intense hit-out his team had ahead of the URC kick-off against Leinster in three weeks. They were not the finished product but showed enough touches to indicate they are moving in the right direction.

Points-scorers

Western Province 40 (7) - Tries: Vernon Matongo, Adré Smith (2), Leolin Zas, Jonathan Roche, Marcel Theunissen. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (5).

Boland Cavaliers 22 (8) - Tries: Dayan van der Westhuizen, Donovan Don, Llewellyn Classen. Conversions: Juan Mostert, Don. Penalty: Mostert.