Province hold on to go second
Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:52
Flying finish: Joe Pietersen scores one of WP\'s three tries
Western Province held on in the face of a strong second-half onslaught from the Golden Lions to secure a 25-20 Currie Cup win and move into second place on the standings at the halfway mark of the competition.
The bonus point, for losing by less than seven points, ensure the Lions remained in fifth place.
If anybody tells you that Currie Cup rugby has not taken a serious decline in standard, look briefly in disbelief, split your sides laughing and point to this match in the cold of Newlands evening in winter.
It is, it seems, about absent players - the Springboks on national service and those who are overseas for even better pay. What remains is just not impressive and these were two of the better teams in this year's Currie Cup.
Three or four players stood above the mass of mediocrity but that is all. It was not a match worthy of highly paid professionals in a game which has bent over backwards to give them the best playing conditions.
It is, for example, hard to justify the inclusion of Earl Rose in a professional team - not with the number of basic, fatal errors he makes in a match.
First he knocked on a straightforward pass in the Western Province half and Western Province counterattacked. Delightful Juan de Jongh broke and Tonderai Chavhanga was stopped at the line. Western Province were held up over the line and attacked from the five-metre scrum, bashing happily till they were held up again and had another five-metre scrum, which was the prelude to more bashing.
But the Golden Lions won a turnover off Wickus Blaauw and passed the ball back to Rose who kicked it out six metres from the Golden Lions line. Western Province won the line-out and mauled and Luke Watson dropped down for the try which Joe Pietersen converted. 7-0 after 10 minutes.
After Rose had kicked the kick-off out on the full, Western Province were freekicked for putting the ball in skew and Pietersen knocked on a high kick from Rose, and the Golden Lions were racing for the line. François van der Merwe looked certain to score but Peter Grant felled him with a scything tackle at the ankles.
Now it was the Golden Lions' turn to have a five-metre line-out and do their own bashing till they tried to go wide and Western Province were penalised at the tackle. 7-3 after 20 minutes.
Alwyn Hollenbach set the Golden Lions attacking with an excellent midfield break and after some phases the Golden Lions turned the ball inside to Todd Clever who drew one man and sent Jano Vermaak scurrying for the line - 8-7 to the Golden Lions after 23 minutes.
This was the Golden Lions' purple patch.
When Rose kicked downfield with all his team in front of him, the Golden Lions were penalised for offside and Pietersen made it 10-8 after 26 minutes.
After De Jongh broke well, Western Province bashed again and when the Golden Lions were penalised again for offside, Pietersen made it 13-3.
The men with the clever feet - Aplon Pietersen and De Jongh - seemed able to beat opponents at will.
Western Province attacked and mauled from a line-out. On such occasions Golden Lions had little respect to their methods of stopping it, and when Anton van Zyl was sin-binned for using his feet to protest at another doubtful attempt to stop the maul the Golden Lions survived, but not for long. Herkie Kruger knocked on a high kick and Western Province went mindlessly bashing away.
The siren went for half-time and they went wide with a great long pass by Grant to give Pietersen a chance to run for the line. He took off, handed of Rose and beat Hollenbach to score in the corner.
This was a vital try in the scheme of the game. Western Province led 18-6 at half-time.
Western Province were close to scoring when, for the second time in quick succession, Western Province caught Rose out of possession and Chavhanga had a golden chance - but the television match official advised that Hollenbach had got the touchdown first. Still Western Province had a five-metre scrum and bashed till the Golden Lions turned the ball over.
Watson had a strong run but lost the ball enabling the Golden Lions to counter. They raced down the left where Van der Merwe kicked ahead. Aplon, covering, got the ball, ran it into touch and then threw the ball into the crowd, for which he was penalised. Kruger goaled - 18-11.
Western Province destroyed a Golden Lions scrum and took a tighthead in the next one but Aplon and François Louw conceded penalties at tackles and suddenly the score was 18-17 with 22 minutes to go in a match which Western Province seemed to be winning easily.
But then Western Province got the chance to bash again and it was Dwayne Vermeulen who was the individual in the tumbling group credited with the try. Pietersen converted from far out - 25-17 with 15 minutes to play.
With four minutes to go, Western Province, anxious for a bonus-point try, ran the ball but Chavhanga was penalised for holding on. Kruger goaled for a bonus point for his side.
After this the Golden Lions ran in an attempt to score a winning try, but Pieter Engelbrecht grubbered ahead for Pietersen to run the ball out to end the match.
Man of the Match: Joe Pietersen was the best of the Western Province side, but our choice is the losing captain, Jano Vermaak who carried his team. He is the heart of everything - always in position at the tackle, always keeping loose forwards honest, passing at speed ground to air, tackling big men. Jano Vermaak is our Man of the Match.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Watson, Pietersen, Vermeulen
Cons: Pietersen 2
Pens: Pietersen 2
For the
Golden Lions:
Try: Vermaak
Pens: Kruger 5
Yellow card: Anton van Zyl (Western Province, 39 - foul play, stamping)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Morgan Newman, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Adriaan Fondse, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Brock Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 Chris Jack, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Frikkie Welsh, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
Golden Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Alwyn Hollenbach, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Herkie Kruger, 9 Jano Vermaak (captain), 8 Todd Clever, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Nico Luus, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Derek Harwood, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Johan Snyman, 19 Johan van Deventer, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Ruan Boshoff, 22 Pieter Engelbrecht.
Referee: Mark Lawrence
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Eugenia Daniels
TMO: JC Fortuin
By Paul Dobson
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