Six-try WP back in race

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DHL Western Province got back on their bike and regained the momentum they lost in Durban last week by scoring an emphatic 45-21 win over GWK Griquas that momentarily put them back into a three-way tie at the top of the Absa Currie Cup log on Saturday.

It was the second successive match at Newlands where WP picked up a four-try bonus point, something they managed for the first time in the season in their last game here at the DHL Newlands Stadium in Cape Town against the Blue Bulls three weeks ago. They had managed the bonus point in this game before half-time, with skipper Deon Fourie notching the fourth off a driving maul from a lineout one minute before the break.

WP led 31-7 at half-time, and never had their lead threatened once Gerhard van den Heever had scored the first of two intercept tries for the home team that were scored in the first half. In that sense Griquas were reminded that there are still many occasions in rugby where it doesn’t pay to be the team that enjoys most of the possession.

The visitors maintained the high tempo, busy approach that has seen them slay three giants in successive weeks, and they certainly had enough ball to make an impression during the first half. The only problem was that by the end of that opening 40 minutes it was Western Province who had reversed the trend of Griquas’ game against Bulls last week.

It wasn’t just rugby suicide though that presented WP with points, for the second intercept try, which was scored by centre Marcel Brache, was the product of excellent pressure from the hosts, with Scarra Ntubeni pulling off a strong tackle on Griquas fullback Willie le Roux that forced the poor pass that Brache capitalised on.

Hooker Ntubeni was in fact the unsung hero of the WP effort, and it was fitting that he should be up to grab a ball that bounced following a high kick halfway through the second half to score a highly popular try in the corner. It was WP’s first try after half-time, but their fifth in all, and by then Griquas were well out of the contest.

They were still well in the game though when they gave away the first intercept try in the 17th minute, this time centre Walter Venter being the man who erred with a misdirected pass that Van den Heever grabbed and, like Brache, ran more than half the length of the field to score.

Griquas had done well to fight back to 7-all just before that point through a good try to flanker Marnus Schoeman, who went straight through the WP defence from a loose scrum in front of their posts. WP had started the scoring with a Joe Pietersen try in the left corner that was the product of some smart work from scrumhalf Louis Schreuder, who took a quick tap to create the opportunity in the fourth minute.

Pietersen was later on target with a long-range penalty to make it 17-7, and the fourth try, the one that secured them their second bonus point of the year, came off one of those typically irrepressible WP driving mauls off a lineout near the left corner flag. Skipper Deon Fourie was the man to touch down with a minute left until the break.

It was a good allround performance from Province but there are some concerns, not the least of them being the scrum that continues to battle. It was most noticeable in a period of play a quarter of an hour into the second half, with the WP scrum just disintegrating near their own line soon after replacements Deon Carstens and Brok Harris had come onto the field.

Referee Stuart Berry had no option but to award a penalty try as the WP scrum had crabbed across to block Griquas as the visitors were pushing over. Unlike last week in Durban, this time Province didn’t have the excuse of being down to only a five man scrum.

Scorers

Western Province 45 – Tries: Joe Pietersen, Gerhard van den Heever, Marcel Brache, Deon Fourie, Scarra Ntubeni and Jebb Sinclair; Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis 6; Penalty: Joe Pietersen.

Griquas 21 – Tries: Marnus Schoeman and Rocco Jansen; Penalty try; Conversions: Francois Brummer 2 and Marnitz Boshoff.

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