Western Province will be licking their wounds today after losing what could possibly be the last north-south derby at Newlands 22-20 to the Blue Bulls on Saturday.
What made the defeat even more painful is that the Bulls had to come from behind with 14 men on the park after prop Jacques van Rooyen was sent off for a high tackle on WP’s Warrick Gelant in the 47th minute.
Leading 20-15 with three minutes to play against 14 men, WP should have bagged the win.
But Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith’s cross kick to the left wing found Marco Janse van Vuren, who dove over to sink WP hearts and make it 22-20.
It was, however, the sending off of Van Rooyen that sparked the match to life and fuelled the Bulls’ fire.
With the scoreboard reading 10-8 in favour of WP after a Damian Willemse penalty conversion and a Juarno Augustus try from close quarters cancelled out a Smith penalty and Kurt-Lee Arendse’s eighth minute try, it was still anyone’s game.
Then came the big decision that changed the match.
Bulls coach Jake White recalls: “It was almost like they [the ref and TMO] didn’t have agreement between themselves on whether it was a red or a yellow or a penalty. And when we got a red, I though ‘jeez, that’s a bit strange’...
“I said to the players just keep believing... and I think the way we played with 14 men, it was almost like we played as though we had an overlap all the time.”
It was WP, though, that made their numerical advantage count 10 minutes after the sending off when Willemse kicked a grubber into space for wing Angelo Davids to chase and dot down (15-8).
Die kat-en-muis speletjies only started, with Arendse scoring his second try after the Bulls had kept the ball for 10 phases to finish out wide.
At 15-15 with just over 10 minutes left, WP thought they had wrapped up the result when Ernst van Rhyn scored after a good run by replacement Ruhan Nel (20-15).
But Smith then found Van Vuren and the Bulls recorded their second post-lockdown win over their rivals – also beating the Stormers 39-6 in Super Rugby Unlocked at Loftus.
A disappointed WP captain Siya Kolisi says: “We as players have to take this one [on the chin]. We didn’t stick to the plan at times – especially at the end. What hurts the most is losing at Newlands.”