Kings bow to supreme Province
The Cape side ran in three tries either side of half-time, including two second half tries by fullback Dillyn Leyds, to claim the easy victory in a fairly one sided encounter.
The boot of Scott van Breda contributed nine points to the Kings' total while scrumhalf Enrico Acker grabbed their only try of the match just before half-time.
The midway deficit proved too much for the Kings as they ended their campaign with just two victories, while WP did all they could to secure themselves a home semifinal.
Going into this match, the hosts needed nothing less than a bonus point victory to keep alive their hopes of hosting a semifinal – knowing, too, that the Bulls needed just a win over the Pumas in their clash in Nelspruit.
However, any 'what ifs' or 'could haves' went out the window as Western Province started the match in ruthless fashion, No.8 Nizaam Carr getting over for a try in the third minute following incessant pressure from the hosts.
Flyhalf Robert du Preez slotted the conversion from the right-hand side, landing a penalty-goal soon after for a handy 10-3 lead – the Kings' Scott van Breda having opened his team's account just minutes before.
Van Breda made it 10-6 and then 10-9 after 28 minutes, before two brilliant tries by the hosts, one created by Godlen Masimla and the other scored by the selfsame Masimla.
The first instance saw a quick tap from Masimla end up in the hands of skipper Juan de Jongh, the inside centre showing great skill to stay in at the left-hand corner, before Masimla again exploded into action almost straight afterwards with a superb run in from an attacking line-out just outside the Kings' 22.
Du Preez converted both tries to make it 24-9 with half-time approaching, before Kings No.9 Enrico Acker scampered over just before the break to make it 24-14 after forty minutes.
The 7,793 supporters did not have to wait long for the bonus point try, which was picked up by Dillyn Leyds (from a brilliant Huw Jones back of the hand off-load in the tackle), with replacement Justin Benn crashing over from a rolling maul a bit later.
Crucially, however, despite a few substitutions in the end and some hopes of the match perhaps opening up a bit more perhaps the watertight WP defence did not relent in the second half as the Kings remained scoreless.
Leyds strolled through a gap in the final act of play to grab his second try down the right-hand flank, replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman landing his second conversion as both Province kickers sported a 100 percent record at goal in the match.
Man of the match: Scrumhalf Enrico Acker looked to spark things while wing Luther Obi was strong with the ball in hand, making plenty of metres on the night. Scott van Breda kept his side on the scoreboard with three long-range penalties and Thembelani Bholi continued his good form. Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Nizaam Carr fed off each others' energy and racked up the tackles as well as metres per carry while Robert du Preez' educated boot continued to fire. Dillyn Leyds was definitely enjoying his time on the park and claimed a brace. However, our award goes to a young scrumhalf who controlled the tempo of the match like a seasoned professional and got his backline firing on all cylinders – Godlen Masimla.
Scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: Carr, de Jongh, Masimla, Leyds 2, Benn
Cons: du Preez 4, Coleman 2
Pen: du Preez
For Eastern Province Kings:
Tries: Acker
Pens: van Breda 3
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Juan de Jongh (captain), 11 Leolin Zass, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6 Jurie Van Vuuren, 5 Chris Van Zyl, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Oliver Kebble.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Jan De Klerk, 19 Justin Benn, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Jaco Taute.
Eastern Province Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Ronnie Cooke (captain), 12 JP du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Jacques Engelbrecht, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Basil Short, 19 David Bulbring, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 Dwayne Kelly, 22 Karlo Aspeling.
Referee: Lesego Legoete
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha, Stephan Geldenhuys
TMO: Christie du Preez
