Province closer to Currie Cup semi-final

AT NEWLANDS last night, Western Province didn’t just manage to secure a 55-27 win against Griquas – they also made it a convincing one to move closer to securing that home Currie Cup semi-final.

WP ran in eight tries to Griquas’ two in an exciting encounter in Cape Town and although they were under pressure early on when Griquas took a 13-3 lead, WP showed their class and took full control in the second half to avenge the shock 44-34 defeat in Kimberley earlier this season.

The victory sees WP move up to third on the log – they are now three points behind the Free State Cheetahs.

Province’s scrum has been one of their best-functioning areas this season, and yesterday they produced a few powerful scrummaging shows again.

But WP can be happy with more than just their work at the set-piece.

The hosts were tight on defence, their driving maul functioned well and they got two well-deserved tries after a few powerful shoves.

Lock JD Schickerling bagged the Man of the Match award for his workhorse performance, while wing Werner Kok was a menace for the opposition with his huge work on defence and his sharp running lines that led to his brace of tries.

Province next face the Blue Bulls in Pretoria.

Then they travel to Johannesburg and then to Durban for their last two round-robin games against the Golden Lions and the Sharks.