Daniel du Plessis ran in four tries for Western Province as they claimed a 40 – 24 win over the Pumas on Day One of the 50th Coca-Cola Craven Week at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Four try hero Daniel du Plessis.
Pic: Duif du Toit (Gallo)
Western Province started the match like a house on fire scoring a try in the 4th minute of the match. Flyhalf Dennis Cox gave a neat inside ball to winger Dewald Naude who cut the line and fed charging centre Daniel du Plessis who got over in the right hand corner. An excellent conversion from Grant Hermanus gave Province a 7-nil lead.
The Pumas hit back only four minutes later when winger Odwa Nkunjane crashed over in the right corner. Some great driving work from the Pumas forwards got them good field position before some quick hands from Menzi Nhlabathi freed up Nkunjane who finished excellently for the try.
The helter skelter nature of the game continued when Province grabbed their second try in the 14th minute. Flank Jacques Vermuelen pouncing on a spilled ball to give an Sonny Bill Williams like offload to Daniel du Plessis. the centre swung it to Naude who did the rest, out-sprinting the cover defence to make the score 14 – 5 to Province.
Momentum changed hands after the Naude try as he Pumas started to use a very direct game plan utilising pick and go around the fringes to good effect. Despite their smaller pack, the Pumas seemed to have the ascendancy in the tight exchanges and were applying serious heat at scrum time in particular. After a sustained period of pressure, the Province defence finally cracked when Mauro Buchuchane crossed the line.
Pumas lock Thulane Mkhonto.
Pic: Duif du Toit (Gallo)
Immediately from the restart, the Pumas grabbed their third try. Skipper Conraad van Vuuren busted some 40 metres up field from the side of ruck and fed the ever present Daniel Maartens in support, before quick hands worked it to Thulane Mkhonto. The lanky lock then galloped the remaining 30 metres down field to give the Pumas the lead for the first time in the game.
Province seemed stunned somewhat by the Pumas who were fronting up to them physically and dominating the breakdown. But the men from the Cape bounced back with a third try in the 30th minute when Daniel du Plessis sliced through two tight forwards before throwing a neat dummy to beat the fullback and cross over for his second try. That was the last scoring act of a pulsating first half which saw Province take a narrow 19 – 17 lead into the break.
The second half was more subdued with several errors creeping into the game on both sides. The Pumas continued to compete well at scrum time and at the break down, but an inaccurate kicking game and some poor handling let them down.
It took nearly 15 minutes for the first points of the second half to be scored. A quick lineout taken by Damian Stevens set -up good field position for Province who worked the ball up through the phases towards the line. Some great straightening of the line and an inch perfect pass from Dennis Cox put Daniel du Plessis in space and the centre cantered over for his hat-trick.
10 minutes late the ever present Du Plessis was on hand again to score his fourth try after some slick interplay between Jarryd Sage and Grant Hermanus. The seemed dead and buried at this stage, but the Pumas refused to die and it was only fitting that captain Conraad van Vuuren worked his way over the line. The burly front ranker’s score gave the Pumas a glimmer of hope as they came to within nine points of Province.
The Pumas could not get out of their own half for the remained of the match as Province closed things out. Heinrich Bühr got his name on the score sheet on the hooter when he took an inside ball from Damian Stevens after the Pumas over threw their own lineout. The replacement flyhalf swiveled out of the would-be tackler and crashed over for the games final act, an unconvincing but deserved win for Province at the end of the day.
By Warwick Austin
Final score: Western Province 40 – 24 Pumas
Man of the Match: The Pumas flankers Daniel Maartens and Willandré Kotzenberg were superb. They were menaces on the deck and Maartens in particular was ever present on the ball and always a willing carrier. Pumas skipper Conraad van Vuuren was also nothing short of sublime, scrumming like a demon and wreaking havoc around the fringes with some strong carries. Ultimately the decision was a simple one as it had to go to Western Province centre Daniel du Plessis. The Paul Roos man was all over the park and kept popping up in the right place at the right time. Four tries and one assist capped off a marvellous display from the young man who showed great skill, speed and composure on the day.
Western Province:
Tries: Daniel du Plessis (4), Dewald Naude, Heinrich Bühr
Cons: Grant Hermanus (5)
Pumas:
Tries: Odwa Nkunjane, Mauro Bucuchane, Thulane Mkhonto, Conraad van Vuuren
Cons: Rowan Gouws (2)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Khanyo Ngcukana, 14 Grant Hermanus, 13 Jarryd Sage, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Dewald Naude, 10 Dennis Cox, 9 Damian Stevens, 8 Petrus Bothma, 7 Johannes Vermeulen, 6 Saud Abrahams, 5 Johannes Momsen, 4 Cornelis van Niekerk, 3 Brett Paulse, 2 Rudolf Brits, 1 Gavin van den Berg.
Replacements: 16 Daniel du Plessis, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Francois van der Merwe, 19 Charlton Jonas, 20 Herschel Jantjies, 21 Siyamthanda Alam, 22 Heinrich Bühr.
Pumas: 15 Johannes du Plooy, 14 Odwa Nkunjana, 13 Mauro Bucuchane, 12 Helgaard Viljoen, 11 Abednigo Mashabane, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Menzi Nhlabathi, 7 Daniel Maartens, 6 Willandre Kotzenberg, 5 Michael Basson, 4 Thulane Mkhonto, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Michael Vosloo, 1 Jon-Pierre Herbst.
Replacements: 16 Cauwen Mashaba, 17 Bhekisa Shongwe, 18 Christopher van Leeuwen, 19 Tristan Jooste, 20 Christiaan Erasmus, 21 Lindelwe Zungu, 22 Mzwakhe Fransman.