Lightning overshadows WP's unbeaten run

CURRIE CUP MATCH: Western Province upheld their unbeaten record with a 34-7 win over the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

Build-up as the biggest game of the weekend, the North-South derby ended after 40 minutes due to extreme weather conditions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Heavy rain and lightning ensured that referee Egon Seconds made the decision to abandon the match, but not before Western Province had scored four tries to make it six straight bonus-point victories this season.

The result means that Western Province top the standings heading into the knock-out phase of the competition and will host the Blue Bulls in a home semifinal at Newlands.

Kick-off at Loftus Versfeld was delayed by 15 minutes due to the rain, but once action got underway Western Province did not waste time in getting the scoreboard ticking.

Flyhalf Josh Stander looked certain to open the scoring with an open try line after charging the ball down, but fumbled in the act of picking up the slippery ball.

A massive shove from the DHL Western Province forwards in the resulting scrum gave SP Marais the chance to open the scoring with an easy penalty right in front of the poles.

A few more powerful scrums in the Vodacom Blue Bulls’ 22 saw the home team’s loosehead prop Matthys Basson shown a yellow card before the referee awarded a penalty try.

Another scrum penalty took the lead out to 13-0 before the Vodacom Blue Bulls came up with what would be their only try of the game from flank Ruan Steenkamp.

The powerful DHL Western Province scrum was a sight to behold and produced another try as flank Kobus van Dyk picked up a loose ball to go over for the second try.

The next try came from the prolific Sergeal Petersen, who hunted down a kick ahead from scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies to score his eighth five-pointer of the season.

The bonus point was sealed just before half-time, with replacement loose forward Jaco Coetzee peeling off a driving maul to score and that was it, with the referee calling the game off at the break.

The match between the Vodacom Blue Bulls and DHL Western Province is delayed until further notice due to heavy rains and thunderstorms#BullsFamily pic.twitter.com/kN7k7EwCoK

— Official Blue Bulls (@BlueBullsRugby) October 13, 2018

The scorers:

For Blue Bulls
Try: Steenkamp
Con: Libbok

For Western Province:
Tries: Penalty Try, Van Dyk, Petersen, Coetzee
Cons: Marais 3, penalty try dies not require a conversion
Pens: SP Marais 2

Yellow card: Matthys Basson (Blue Bulls, 15 – deliberaly offside)

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Franco Naude, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 7 Marco van Staden, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Hendre Stassen, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Matthys Basson.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Ruan Nortje, 19 Nic de Jager, 20 Embrose Papier, 21 Tinus de Beer, 22 Dylan Sage.

Western Province: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 SP Marais, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Kobus van Dyk, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 JJ Engelbreght.

Referee: Egon Seconds
Assistant referees: Jaco Pretorius, Eduan Nel
TMO: Lesego Legoete

@WP_Rugby