WP 'lose' in boardroom... and on pitch
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:25
Service please: Lions scrumhalf Jano Vermaak feeds his backs
Western Province managed a hard-fought 14-6 win in their final Currie Cup round-robin match against the Lions at Newlands, but it wasn't enough to book their place in the semifinals.
The Lions defended bravely and countered almost everything Province threw at them. All the home side could muster was a scrappy try just before half-time by Luke Watson and a typically opportunistic intercept try by wily centre Jean de Villiers.
The result means that the Lions will travel to Durban to face the Sharks in their semifinal at Absa Stadium next Saturday, while the Cheetahs will face the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in the second semifinal.
However, they managed only the first target and, although they produced a reasonable all-round display in the match, it did not atone for their failure to reach this season's play-offs.
Slick handling movements by WP made for a rousing start but the Lions' defence survived the early tests. WP may have taken an early lead but they squandered two great early opportunities, in the second and 11th minute, to kick at posts, opting in stead to kick for touch in pursuit of tries.
However, WP failed to capitalise on this advantage as they failed to win their line-out ball and clearly the 11th hour withdrawal of lock Adriaan Fondse was costing WP dearly. AJ Venter replaced Fondse in the WP second row, and the Province line-out did not function smoothly at all.
The match was played in the best traditions between the two unions, with no quarter asked or given, but tempers became frayed in the 14th minute and play was held up for about three minutes.
Midway through the first half, neither side had managed to open their account. That might have changed two minutes later if WP scrumhalf Ricky Januarie had held onto a pass, following a nice move from a line-out that caught the Lions' defence napping.
The high-paced start to the match seemed to have taken the sting out of the attacks and from about the 25th minute both sides started trading heavily on deep kicks in an effort to win territory.
There were also a few up-and-unders from the Lions but WP managed to ward off the danger.
As the match approached the half-time break, there were several promising movements by WP inside the Lions half, but poor option-taking saw their efforts come to nought.
That proved to be the case until the 40th minute, when Province flank Luke Watson rounded off a splendid drive from a close-in line-out to score the first try of the match.
Flyhalf Peter Grant, who was not having a particularly good game, goaled splendidly from the touchline to give WP a deserved 7-0 lead, as the teams headed into the break.
Lions' centre Doppies le Grange was yellow-carded 30 seconds before half-time for repeated infringements.
WP restarted where they left off and three early second-half sorties into the Lions 22 metre area may have brought early reward.
But again poor options robbed them of a possible try in the first six minutes after the restart.
To their credit, WP did not lose heart and they kept plugging away. One telling break by Januarie threatened to pay off for the home side, but the Lions' cover defence kicked into gear and the Springbok No.9 was collared near the Lions' 22m line.
Despite Province's grip on the game, the Lions drew first blood in the second half when their flyhalf Earl Rose goaled a close-range penalty in the 62nd minute, shrinking the deficit to 3-7.
Two minutes later, the Newlands faithful were out of their seats when WP skipper Jean de Villiers pulled off a trademark interception, just at a time when the Lions threatened, and ran the length of the field for his side's second try. Grant added the conversion, and WP were back on track in their semifinal quest, leading 14-3.
In the remaining 18 minutes of play, WP certainly did enough to earn two more tries but they just couldn't make the pressure count in the face of some fierce resistance by the Lions, who remained impressively cool and determined.
Province desperately tried to run the ball from all angles as the clock ran down, but the net result was a penalty to the Lions.
Rose took the kick at poles, and hammered the final nail in WP's semifinal coffin when he slotted the penalty in the 78th minute to make the score 6-14.
That's how it stayed despite the home side's best efforts, leaving the Lions celebrating at the final whistle despite losing the match.
WP's failure on the pitch to secure the semifinal spot comes hot on the heels of their failure in the boardroom to engineer their place in the play-offs.
Province officials this week asked the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to dock log points from the Cheetahs for allegedly fielding ineligible players. SARU subsequently found that the Free Staters were not in breach of any regulations, and dismissed the case.
Scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Watson, De Villiers
Cons: Grant, Pietersen
For the Lions:
Pens: Rose 2
Yellow card: Doppies la Grange (Lions, 39 - Repeated infringements)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Joe Pieterson, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jean De Villiers (captain), 11 Wylie Human, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Luke Watson, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 AJ Venter, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 Schalk Ferreira, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Percy Montgomery, 22 Morgan Newman
Lions: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la
Grange, 11 Trompie Nontshinga, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Wheeler, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Jannes Labuschagne, 19 Wilhelm Koch, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Jaco Van Schalkwyk.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Touch judges: Sindile Mayende, Marc van Zyl
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
SAPA/365
