Western Province’s hopes of making it to the Currie Cup semifinals hit another speedbump after going down 26-19 to the Cheetahs at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.
And for the second time in this year’s Currie Cup, WP blew a bright start as the Cheetahs outwitted the Cape side with direct forward play for which coach John Dobson’s manne had no answer after his team initially led 13-0 early on.
Province flyhalf Jurie Matthee kicked two penalties to get the home side going and some superb interplay in wet conditions saw inside centre Damian Markus sidestep his way through the Cheetahs defence before sending wing Angelo Davids away for the opening try.
Another weekend, another set of rugby drama! 🍿 Who's the king of the castle, and who's feeling the Monday blues?#CarlingCurrieCup #WhereChampionsRise pic.twitter.com/Y0e4hnaGeu
— The Carling Currie Cup (@TheCurrieCup) August 12, 2024
The manne vannie Kaap looked in the mood this but then the Cheetahs started to flip the script by deploying a disciplined pick-and-go game through their forwards with captain Victor Sekekete scoring a converted try to cut WP’s lead to six points.
Matthee slotted a third penalty with eleven minutes of the first half left to put Province 16-7 up, but when Carl Wegner scored the Cheetahs’ second five-pointer for a 16-12 half-time score, it was game on.
Province had no answers for the Cheetahs’ tactics as the visitors hit the lead early in the second half through a converted Daniel Kasende’ try.
And after another pick-and-go foray Cheetahs No.8 Jeandre Rudolph delivered the doodskoot by scoring the visitor’s fourth try for a bonus point win.
Daily Voice