Fired-up WP power past Bulls to claim vital Currie Cup win

Western Province caught an error-prone Bulls outfit napping to claim a vital Currie Cup victory in Cape Town on Saturday night.

The hosts won 31-7, after leading 14-0 at half-time.

Two late intercept tries from WP speedsters Damian Markus and Luke Burger also gave the hosts a vital try-scoring bonus point.

It was WP's second win over the Bulls in the Currie Cup this season, having also upset their arch-rivals 41-33 at Loftus in March.

Centre Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was a star for the home side as he contributed 16 points that included a try, four conversions and a penalty.

It was an impressive win for WP, who were considered underdogs against a Bulls side that featured several URC stars, including the likes of Springboks Marco van Staden, Johan Goosen, Cornal Hendricks and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu crossed the whitewash in the 10th minute, before impressive lock Dylan de Leeuw scored seven minutes later.

It allowed WP to go into the half-time break leading 14-0.            .

The Capetonians dominated the early parts of the second half and went 17-0 ahead when Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted a penalty at the 50-minute mark.

A few minutes later WP thought they had the game wrapped up when replacement hooker Andre-Hugo Venter scored after a powerful driving maul. However, the try was cancelled after TMO Marius Jonker deemed there was obstruction by a WP player at the lineout.

The Bulls got on the scoreboard in the 61st minute when replacement centre Harold Vorster rounded off under the posts after collecting a kick over the WP defence.

The Bulls, now only down 17-7, kept probing but their hopes were dashed when WP's replacement back Markus scored an intercept try in the 73rd minute.

The Bulls then had a try by replacement scrumhalf Embrose Papier cancelled due to an earlier forward pass, before WP sealed the bonus point when winger Burger intercepted at the death to score a long-range try.

The result saw WP (21 points) move past Griquas (19 points) into fourth position on the log standings, while the Bulls are seventh on 17 points.

Scorers:

WP 31 (14)

Tries: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Dylan de Leeuw, Damian Markus, Luke Burger

Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4)

Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Bulls 7 (0)

Try: Harold Vorster

Conversion: Chris Smith

Teams:

Western Province

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Cornel Smit, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (captain), 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Dylan de Leeuw, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak

Substitutes: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Adre Smith, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Thomas Bursey, 23 Damian Markus

Bulls

15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Wandisile Simelane, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 David Kriel, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Keagan Johannes, 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp

Substitutes: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Johan Grobbelaar, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Harold Vorster