Province slip-sliding to victory
Province beat the Free State Cheetahs 9-3 in an arm-wrestle at Newlands on Saturday, a result that keeps the Cape Town outfit in touch with the tournament pacesetters – the Blue Bulls and Golden Lions.
The atrocious conditions at Newlands – a fine mist rain a strong wind – meant the boot was always going to be used more than what these teams would have wanted.
It also contributed to the ever-climbing error count.
Province dominated possession – mostly because of their strong set pieces – and enjoyed a healthy territorial advantage. The WP scrum was particularly devastating.
Despite this dominance Province had very little to show for it at the end of the first half – opting to set up line-outs instead of going for goal and not getting any reward. Their high error count also did not aid their cause.
The Cheetahs must get some credit, especially for their determined defence, for managing to keep a dominant WP side at bay.
The only first-half points were a Fred Zeilinga penalty in the 18th minute.
Province suffered a further setback early ion the second half, when captain Juan de Jongh left the field with a serious-looking knee injury.
It was not till the 54th minute that Province gave up their obsession with mauls from line-outs and took a shot at foal – Demetri Catrakilis levelling the scores at 3-all with a penalty.
And three minutes later the home team finally took the lead through another Catrakilis penalty, with the flyhalf making it 9-3 as the game reached the final quarter.
At this stage the Cheetahs' discipline – or rather lack of it – started to cost them, with both Gerhard Olivier (in the 59th minute) and Henco Venter (63rd minute) sent to the sin bin for silly offences. It meant they were down to 13 men for a period.
It didn't help the Cheetahs much that the referee appeared oblivious to WP transgressions – including players being grappled around neck/head area and offside plays.
The Cheetahs had a late chance to secure the win, with Sevens Springbok Ryno Benjamin seemingly on his way to score a try – before a match-winning ankle tap by Kurt Coleman brought him to ground and resulted in the ball being spilled.
Province held on for a 9-3 win.
Man of the match: Kurt Coleman's ankle tap on Ryno Benjamin may have been the most crucial play of the match, but our award goes to Western Province flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis – who controlled proceeding in testing conditions and kicked three crucial penalties.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Pens: Catrakilis 3
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Pen: Zeilinga
Yellow cards: Ryno Benjamin (Free State Cheetahs, 34 – foul play, kicking an opponent), Gerhard Olivier (Free State Cheetahs, 59 – professional foul, playing the scrumhalf at a ruck), Henco Venter (Free State Cheetahs, 63 – foul play, head-hit hit)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr (vice-captain), 7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oliver Kebble
Replacements: 16 Marius Fourie, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Jan de Klerk, 19 Chris Cloete, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Kobus van Wyk
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Adriaan Coertzen, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Nicolaas van Dyk, 18 Hugo Reniel, 19 Gerhard Olivier, 20 Zee Mkhabela, 21 Tertius Kruger, 22 Sias Ebersohn.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Rodney Boneparte
TMO: Willie Vos
