Province hang on to beat Cheetahs
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:10
Province power: WP hooker Tiaan Liebenberg on the run
Western Province got their Currie Cup campaign back on track after they beat the Free State Cheetahs 19-13 in their Round Three encounter at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.
Fijian wing Sireli Naqelevuki and Cheetahs replacement hooker Richardt Strauss scored the only two tries of the match but it was Willem de Waal's boot that proved to be the major difference as he slotted four penalties and one conversion.
It was tight, it was hard and it was not always pleasant. There were emotional moments which in previous years would have been slug fests. Even the scrumhalves had a fight at one stage. It stayed tense throughout as the desperate Free Staters sought their first win in three Currie Cup matches.
Willem de Waal passed the ball from the very first line-out and was smashed to the ground with a late shoulder charge. After the whistle Hendro Scholtz smashed into Luke Watson's side. Then Pieter Louw jumped to catch a high ball and Lionel Mapoe took him out in the air. Those happened in the first 10 minutes. The third was penalised.
There were two different styles of play. Western Province tried to run and spread the ball wide while the Free State kicked high, mauled and charged one at a time, cutting back over and over and were destroyed by aggressive tackling. It was not traditional Free State rugby. Western Province dealt powerfully with their mauling and drove the visitors back. much of their early kicking was on Sireli Naqelevuki whose hands are fragile but it was an irony that he it was who would get the score that defeated the Free State.
It was a match which Western Province deserved to win. They had more territory, were more expansive, mauled better and did better at the tackle battle. Especially in the second half they were ascendant.
De Waal kicked off and the Free State kicked out. Western Province won the line-out and De Waal was smashed to the ground. Play went on and Free State were penalised in the tackle. De Waal recovered calmly and goaled the kick. Western Province led 3-0 after
There is something delightfully oldfashioned about De Waal - clean shaven, neatly tonsured, dress tidy, socks up and no sign of emotion as he goes about his tasks.
Next it was Western Province's turn to be penalised at a tackle. There were 22 penalties in the match, 18 at tackles. It remains the game's great blight.
Potgieter goaled. 3-3 after 4 minutes,
Gio Aplon, slight of frame and electric of foot, leapt and took an up-and-under and sped away to set Western Province attacking till Free State were penalised at a tackle. 6-34 after 7 minutes.
Free State attacked with vigour but ran into stern defence till Western Province were then penalised at tackle. 6-6 after 20 minutes. There would be two more penalty goals in the half, both from tackle infringements.
After the second one, left wing Mapoe, the liveliest of the Free State backs, out on the right wing, caught the kick-off that set up a frantic Free State attack as Nico Breedt ran through Naqelevuki. But the rest of the Western Province was shuddering in its execution.
Danwel Demas, who had a good game of catch and kick, was given an overlap. He chipped and gathered the kind bounce and looked on his way to scoring a try till De Waal mowed him down.
The first scrum of the match came after 30 minutes. It collapsed twice, Western Province were penalised and there was anger between the two front rows.
Peter Grant counterattacked sharply going left. Dewaldt Duvenage, Liebenberg and Naqelevuki carried it on and then Western Province went far right where they scrambled for the line right in the corner. But the television match official ruled that Tonderai Chavhanga was just short.
Potgieter missed with two droop attempts, Scholtz had a strong charge and Liebenberg pulled off the tackle of the match, a bone-rattling tackle on Adriaan Strauss, his hooking opponent.
The first 20 minutes of the second half belonged entirely to Western Province. They ran a maul into the Free State 22 and then François Louw, happily back on the field, was close. They kept on running and playing wide. From a quick throw-in Chavhanga had a strong run.
The pressure told. Liebenberg gathered a sloppy Free State line-out and charged at the Free State line. He was brought down and the Free State pack won a turnover. Back the ball went to Henry Daniller deep in his in-goal. Up flashed young Juan de Jongh who charged down the kick. The ball did not get out of the 22 and the Free State saved but at the expense of a five-metre scrum.
Western Province scored from the scrum with a wimple 8-9-11 move as Naqelevuki came in from the left wing and steamrollered ahead to score with three Free Staters hanging on him. De Waal converted the easy kick. 19-6.
For all their possession and endeavours Western Province did not score again.
A tough tackle by slightly built De Jongh on Corné Uys [produced a turnover and Chavhanga beat two defenders till he was caught and Liebenberg was penalised for diving in. De Jongh found a second victim in JW Jonker.
At this stage Free State began emptying their bench. The value of the tactic was not obvious while Western Province changed sparingly.
When Kabamba Floors charged down a De Waal kick the Free State attacked but it was all heavy-brigade charging which did not work in the Crimea and did not work at Newlands.
Free State, who won the second-half tackle count 6-2, were eschewing penalty kicks at goal in their quest for a try. They had a five-metre line-out but were stopped. They had another, mauled and bashed and were close till the ball came back to JP Joubert who gave a short pass to Richardt Strauss,. who scored in the corner. Potgieter converted from touch. There were 6 minutes to play and the score was 19-13.
Free State were frantic. They won a Western Province line-out and bashed but Strauss knocked on. They counterattacked but Joubert passed into touch. There were 42 seconds to go. Chris Jack won the line-out and Western Province kept possession as the crowd counted down and the final siren sounded. Conrad Hoffmann kicked the ball into touch.
Man of the Match: Bravely as Hendro Scholtz tried the Man of the match would come from Western Province with candidates in Dewaldt Duvenage, Juan de Jongh, Anton van Zyl, Pieter Louw and our choice, Tiaan Liebenberg who was all over the field, obvious intent on proving his worth, which he did overshadowing his Springbok opponent.
The Scorers:
For Western Province:
Try: Naqelevuki
Con: De Waal
Pens: De Waal 4
For Cheetahs:
Try: Strauss
Con: Potgieter
Pens: Potgieter 2
Teams
Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Sireli Naqelevuki, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Pieter Louw, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brock Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 Hilton Lobberts, 19 Pieter Myburgh, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Morgan Newman, 22 Frikkie Welsh.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Lionel Mapoe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Tertius Carse, 8 Francois Uys, 7 Hendro Scholtz (captain), 6 Johan Wessels, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Frans
Viljoen, 19 Lucas Floors, 20 JP Joubert, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 JW Jonker.
Referee: Phillip Bosch
Assistant Referees: François Veldsman, Ben Crouse
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
By Paul Dobson, at Newlands
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