Breakneck Province break the Lions’ hearts

This was another scoreline few saw coming. To be fair, the defences in the Currie Cup have been as porous as our borders and Western Province revelled in that freedom yesterday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

Province enthralled, their sense of adventure exemplified by the team try Josh Stander scored around the half-hour mark.

They rattled up 39 points in the first half and were ruthlessly efficient in exploiting the Lions’ errors.

The Lions looked dazed; WP appeared wonderfully enabled, using rolling substitutions to play the game at breakneck speed without succumbing to the altitude.

When they were called to hold their defensive lines, WP were stout, but the Lions also played their part in botching tries.

WP fullback Dillyn Leyds was one of the chief instigators of victory, No 8 Juarno Augustus and centre Dan Kriel packed a punch when they went direct route, and WP’s collective commitment got the job done.

It wasn’t all dazzle. WP’s performance was rooted in substance and their forwards, who have been on the front foot so far in the competition, continued in that vein.

It meant the Lions’ attacks were sporadic and often under duress. Lions centre Lionel Mapoe looked sheer class until he threw an errant pass with a huge overlap in the 23rd minute. Sergeal Petersen intercepted, then ran from inside his 22 to score.

That stretched WP’s advantage to 27-10 after just 23 minutes and it got worse for the Lions after Stander’s converted try ballooned Province’s advantage to 24 points.

That try featured a deft offload from Scarra Ntubeni that would have drawn an approving smile from Sonny Bill Williams.

The Lions lost further ground in the second half but Hacjivah Dayimani increased his range of influence, as did Mapoe as the match went into its final quarter. But by then the Lions were chasing ghosts.