Dillyn Leyds and Sergeal Petersen scored a brace each as Western Province recorded an emphatic 65-38 bonus-point win over the Golden Lions in Johannesburg. MARIETTE ADAMS reports.
After the absorbing Test match that the Springboks and All Blacks served up earlier, everything else on the day was sure to pale in comparison. That this highly anticipated clash, hyped up as possibly the game of the Currie Cup season, would turn out to be so embarrassingly one-sided is quite astonishing.
Yes, the Lions scored five of the 14 tries in the game, most of them came long after there was no way back for them.
Despite thrashing Free State 32-0 at Newlands earlier this season, WP sent out their strongest statement yet about their title ambitions with this performance. The visitors had wrapped up the bonus point by the 28th minute as they raced out to a 34-10 lead. In fact, coach John Dobson was so sure that they had the win in the bag at that early stage that he made several substitutions to preserve his key players for their next assignment.
The win enables Province to move to second on the log behind the Blue Bulls, who have played one more game.
In a breathless start, No 8 Juarno Augustus evaded the tackle of Hacjivah Dayimani and fed the ball to Ruhan Nel, who released Leyds to score after just 46 seconds. SP Marais succeeded with the conversion before adding a penalty.
Both sides were guilty of poor defence, that much was evident when Lions hooker Corné Fourie burst through the WP line to set up James Venter for a try. But there was to be no real shift in momentum as Province turned on the style with Leyds, Petersen and Josh Stander all dotting down in quick succession.
When the Lions finally managed to get possession, they coughed it up in their own half and, spotting acres of space out wide, Stander put in the perfect kick-pass fielded by Marais, who cantered away for his side’s fifth try and a 29-point advantage going into the break.
Province lost their relentless edge somewhat after the restart, which aided the Lions’ cause. They worked their way downfield and drew a penalty try from referee Jaco Peyper after WP had infringed. But any hopes of a comeback vanished when poor defence led to tries for Augustus and JD Schickerling, which took WP past the 50-point mark.
And the bleeding was not over yet, as Petersen and Dan du Plessis added to the Lions’ woes with more tries. But the Lions did manage to secure a losing bonus point as Pieter Jansen, Dayimani and Len Massyn crossed the line to add a bit of respectability to the score.
Golden Lions – Tries: James Venter, penalty try, Pieter Jansen, Hacjivah Dayimani, Len Massyn. Conversions: Shaun Reynolds (3). Penalty: Reynolds.
Western Province – Tries: Dillyn Leyds (2), Sergeal Petersen (2), Josh Stander, SP Marais, Juarno Augustus, JD Schickerling, Dan du Plessis. Conversions: Marais (7). Penalties: Marais (2).
Golden Lions – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Shaun Reynolds, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Len Massyn, 6 James Venter, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Corné Fourie, 1 Sti Sithole.
Subs: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Johannes Jonker, 18 Reinhard Nortnagel, 19 Driaan Bester, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Gianni Lombard, 22 Wandisile Simelane.
Western Province – 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 SP Marais, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Kobus van Dyk, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (c), 3 Michael Kumbirai, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Subs: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Chris Massyn, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Dan du Plessis.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
