Cape Town — Western Province started their bid to win the Currie Cup with a convincing 44-28 victory over the Lions on Saturday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Like the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC), this Province win was based on a rock-solid defensive effort, along with some great interplay between the backs and forwards, and a scum and rolling maul that brought the rewards in plenty of possession and favourably territory.
You would've thought that the Lions forwards would front up to the Cape sides' especially when the home side picked a pack with plenty of URC experience.
But it wasn't to be as the visitors mauled them into the ground while dominating in the scrums as well.
It was a good outing in the bonus-point win for WP and especially flyhalf Kade Wolhuter who produced a match-winning performance.
His distribution was solid, he kicked the ball long and far out of hand and he got in some good runs to get his team on the front foot.
But the biggest positive was his kicking from the tee. Yes, he missed a couple of attempts at goal, but he slotted some difficult ones from the touchline and contributed 19 points to the winning tally.
John Dobson, WP coach, will be a happy man after that win especially after the challenge was set for the young Currie Cup side to replicate what the Stormers are doing.
They did just that, especially amongst the forwards and you can see why the Stormers thrived in the URC without having their Springbok forwards available in recent matches where these players had to step in at times.
Hooker Scarra Ntubeni, Eightman Keke Morabe and replacement hooker Andre-Hugo Venter all scored when the rolling maul was used as the main weapon of attack.
Flanker Marcel Theunissen and winger Suleiman Hartzenberg all scored thanks to some good attacking by the visitors.
The Lions, though, never went away, even when they trailed 34-14 at halftime.
Winger Baldwin Hansen's two scores were brilliant and he's a Lions youngster who definitely put his hand up in this match. He is quick, has an eye for a gap and knows how to get the ball over the line.
Flyhalf Vaughan Isaacs also had an excellent spell off the kicking tee but he could not showcase his skills on the attack behind a pack of forwards that went backwards.
That's one thing the Lions will have to fix heading into the rest of the Currie Cup. They sport a talented backline but failed to get them in on the action as a unit in Saturday's clash.
And just like the URC Lions side, the Currie Cup team created chances but couldn't capitalise on them.
WP also received two yellow cards, one in each half, but the Lions could only score points against them in the first half when Juan de Jongh was sent off.
The team defended like trojans when Morabe was binned for repeated team infringements. This monstrous tackling effort was probably where the visitors sealed the game.
Dobson will be happy with the defensive effort and how the team gelled in their first game together. But there's a lot still to work on for the team if they want to challenge in the competition.
Point-scorers
Lions 28 — Tries: Baldwin Hansen (2), Rynard Roets, Nico Steyn. Conversions: Vaughan Isaacs (4).
Western Province 44 — Tries: Scarra Ntubeni, Marcel Theunissen, Keke Morabe, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversions: Kade Wolhuter: (5). Penalties: Wolhuter (3).
IOL Sport