Despite the presence of Springbok stalwart Jean de Villiers, Western Province succumbed to a 19-6 defeat against the Pumas in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.

Having made his comeback from a horror knee injury when the Springboks played the World XV last weekend, De Villiers started the game at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Franschhoek, and featured for an industrious 60 minutes.

The Pumas made an impressive start as they established a 12-0 lead early on, while a third try in the 36th minute enabled the visitors to extend their advantage to 16 points at half-time, with WP flyhalf Brandon Thomson having slotted a penalty.

Province could also only muster a solitary second half penalty from Thomson as the Pumas ran out as comfortable winners despite not scoring in the second half.

Western Province – 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Tshotsho Mbovane, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Josh Katzen, 6 Taps Tsomondo, 5 Jan de Klerk, 4 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Michael Willemse (c), 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Jean Kleyn, 19 Justin Benn, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Ernst Stapelberg, 23 Kyle Lombard, 24 Jarryd Sage.

Pumas – 15 JW Bell, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 Jerome Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 JC Roos, 9 Johan Herbst, 8 Lambert Groenewald, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 4 Rudi Mathee, 3 De-Jay Terblanché, 2 Frank Herne, 1 Khwezi Mona
Subs: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 Sabelo Nhlapo, 18 Marne Coetzee, 19 Jannie Stander, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Justin van Staden, 22 Hennie Skorbinski, 23 Bernado Botha, 24 Hoffmann Maritz, 25 Jaco Bouwer, 26 Jason-Collin Fraser, 27 Marius Coetzer.

Photo: Luke Walker/Gallo Images