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WP second half accounts for arch rivals

rugby13 July 2019 17:19| © Cycle Lab
By:JJ Harmse
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DHL Western Province gained their anticipated win over the Vodacom Blue Bulls but the 20-5 scoreline doesn't tell the full story of an opening Currie Cup game at Newlands that was not nearly as one-sided as the home team's 15 point winning margin might suggest.

These two teams fought out a stalemate until well into the 20 minutes of extra time in an exciting Currie Cup semifinal here last October and for much of the way there were similarities with that game.

The halftime score of 5-all pretty much summed up the first half, with the Bulls perhaps unlucky no to be leading, and for most of the game it as an arm-wrestle with both defensive systems dominating.

However in the second half WP took their chances better, with Juarno Augustus scoring a good try that put them seven points ahead before SP Marais, one of the heroes of the WP effort, kicked a monster penalty from halfway to put some daylight between the teams for the first time in the match.

Marais's heroics weren't limited to his kicking. On one occasion Rosko Specman blitzed through off a pass from the flyhalf Manie Libbok and it looked for all money that he might score but not only did Marais pull off a stupendous tackle, he also robbed the Bulls of the ball at the same time.

Province camped the last few minutes in the Bulls' half and obviously with the Bulls having to chase the game they were bound to make mistakes, and they did.

Replacement WP flyhalf Josh Stander put in a well directed cross kick that Craig Barry latched onto to rub salt in the Bulls' wounds after the hooter.

WP were expected to win the forward battle and they did have dominance in the scrums, and ultimately you’d probably sum up this result by using that old fashioned phrase that refers to "the slow poison of the scrums" taking effect in the Province favour.

The host unit forced numerous scrum penalties and frequently saved themselves in pressure situations by doing that.

SCRAMBLE DEFENCE

You can't expect to win if you struggle in first phase, and the Bulls' coach, Pote Human, did acknowledge that afterwards.

However, the Bulls did have enough possession to play with, particularly in the first half, and looked good when they ran wide.

The WP lineout wasn't at its most accurate and efficient, too many mistakes were made around the fringes, and like last year's game here in the playoffs the hosts looked jittery with their passing game in the face of the quickly advancing and aggressive Bulls defensive system.

Both teams made lots of handling errors, perhaps WP more so, but a lot of it can be attributed to the discomfort caused by their opponents' defending, although calling it defence doesn't really feel quite right these days as it appears to be more offence than defence.

The quality of the Bulls' off-loading game and their effectiveness when the sharpness and pace of Rosko Specman when he came into the line bothered WP in the first half and then once later in the game, but their scramble defence was good.

So for that matter was that of the Bulls, with both teams probably getting to the break feeling they had wasted scoring opportunities.

The Bulls scored first through a breakaway try to the pacy scrumhalf Embrose Papier off a run he put in off a turn-over that was affected by Tim Agaba just inside their own 22 in the eighth minute.

The Bulls had threatened earlier with a breakaway, and they did on a few occasions after that, but the WP scramble defence saved them each time.

The first WP points came in the 26th minute when centre Ruan Nel wriggled his way through after Province did well in probing through the narrow channels to set it up.

A little earlier Nel had come close to scoring and Seabelo Senatla put his foot on the touchline as he went over and it was reminiscent of the Stormers' bad luck in Super Rugby, when frequently it was just centimetres that separated WP from scoring and falling just short.

Scores

DHL Western Province 20 - Tries: Ruhan Nel,Juarno Augustus and Craig Barry; Conversion: SP Marais; Penalty: SP Marais.

Vodacom Blue Bulls 5 - Try: Embrose Papier.

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