It was a clash of titans on a miserable, rainy night inside the Newlands stadium when the defending Absa Currie Cup champions, the Sharks, failed to defeat a determined Vodacom Western Province side. Man of the match Chris Jack was definitely a key figure in a Province team that competed well up front to run out 29-15 winners.

From the outset these two teams were determined to make this a very physically encounter as there had been a lot said about both forward packs prior to kick-off. No team was prepared to let up at the break-down which resulted in the game being littered with penalties at ruck time.

Furthermore, the terrible weather conditions in Cape Town didn’t help and it didn’t make for eye-catching rugby as the players struggled to keep their footing and hence hold onto the ball. Scrums were constantly reset and players were continually penalised for infringements around the break-downs making it a game of two kickers.

Chris Jack, what an impact! That’s what the fans of Western Province were chanting after a dream start by the former New Zealand lock that saw him score his first Currie Cup try in the opening minute of the match. Jack did brilliantly to charge down a Rory Kockott clearance kick and then followed up his own charge down to score his side’s first points in the left hand corner. Willem De Waal duly obliged with a brilliant two point conversion, 7-0.

Ruck time was fiercely contested by both sides as no quarter was given nor asked for. The Sharks got the best of the early physical exchanges when they were awarded an early penalty in the eighth minute for holding on at the bottom of a ruck. Kockott made no mistake from in front of the posts, 7-3.

Province were able to hit back six minutes later courtesy of De Vaal’s boot when he slotted a rather difficult penalty on the left hand side of the field, which came as a result of another infringement at ruck time.

Then within the space of 15 minutes the Sharks were able to take the lead thanks to some splendid kicking by their nuggety scrumhalf, Kockott, who slotted three penalty kicks, all from difficult positions on the field, to take the score to 10-12 in the 28th minute.

However, their lead only lasted five minutes before the Sharks were once again penalised at ruck time for holding on. De Vaal made them pay the maximum price as he slotted yet another penalty kick to put Province in the lead by a single point, 13-12. De Vaal’s boot was definitely in fine form as he scored another penalty two minutes before the half time break to extend his side’s lead to four points making the score 16-12 at half time.

The rain in the second half did let up, but unfortunately for the fans packed inside Newlands stadium the penalties didn’t. Keegan Daniels was the first casualty for the persistent infringements by both sides when he was sin-binned three minutes after the restart reducing his side to 14 men for ten minutes.

And the Sharks paid dearly for Daniels mistake conceding ten points in his absence. First, Sireli Naqelevuki touched down in the left hand corner in the 48th minute after a quick turnover created by Luke Watson, which allowed the Fijian winger to break down the flank for his try. De Vaal made a beautiful conversion form the touchline and then slotted a penalty two minutes later to extend Provinces’ lead to fourteen, 26-12.

Kockott converted another penalty for his side in the 52nd minute to take the score to 26-15 and that is they way it stayed until the 74th minute of the match when De Vaal converted a great penalty from the half way line that bounced on the cross bar before going over, 29-15.

That is the way the match finished and Province proved they are a team that will contend for the Currie Cup title this season as they showed their worth upfront outmuscling a star-studded shark side.

The scorers:

For Western Province:
Tries: Jack, Naqelevuki
Cons: De Waal 2
Pens: De Waal 5

For the Sharks:
Pens: Kockott 5


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