WP scrape into semis

I DON’T know any thriller movie that could possibly match the kind of spinechilling feeling that Western Province, and the Newlands faithful, felt in the last few minutes of their Currie Cup battle against the Boland Cavaliers.

But after 82 minutes of an unbelievably tight encounter, Province breathed a sigh of unimaginable relief as they secured a semi-final spot. It will be against the Blue Bulls at Loftus, by the way.

That will be no easy task, but Province can pat themselves on the back for making the top four after a less-thanideal Currie Cup campaign, with three defeats in seven matches, one of those being against the Bulls at Loftus.

It was all Boland in the first quarter, but Province stepped up their game towards the end of the first half.

The second half saw a much improved effort by Province, who had the upper hand at the scrums and line-outs throughout the match and also enjoyed more possession and territory in the second half.

Towards the end of the match it seemed like both sides were starting to unravel, but Province held on to bag the win.

There were some standout individual performances by the men in blue and white stripes.

Robert du Preez did the basics well and added a few more with lovely kicks and a promising cross kick.

Johnny Kotze dazzled with great line breaks, threatening running and beautiful passing in a man-of-the-match performance, and Cheslin Kolbe looked more dangerous than he has in a good few games with enterprising running, a good line kick and, generally, pin-point thinking on attack.