Western Province hosted the GWK Griquas in their second round Currie Cup match. The match was won by WP with an impressive 5 try haul, even though it was played in a wet, wet, mud bath. WP won 43 / 3.

To say it rained at Newlands would be an understatement, there was deep water underfoot and a lot of splashing. Typical weather that would make attactive rugby an impossibility.

One often wondered whether somebody would start doing breast stroke or back stroke or at least need a snorkle and some goggles.

Yet somehow WP scored 5 tries and Joe Petersen was dead-eye Dick with his place kicking.

From the start it was clear that WP handled the wet weather much better than Griquas, their handling was awesome for wet weather. Griquas on the other hand, with Naas Olivier leading the soggy Griquas chorus made countless handling mistakes and often lost the ball in contact.

Griquas never looked like scoring tries.

In the first miute WP scored through a penalty converted by Joe Petersen then followed it up with further penalties on 16, 20 and 23 minutes into the game.

Then followed a yellow card awarded against Jonathan Mokoena. In ensuing play Brock Harris scored WP’s first try. It was now 19 /0 after 27 minutes.

Naas Olivier was successful wih his first penalty after 32 minutes, making the score 19 / 3.

On 35 minutes Joe Petersen crossed the white line for WP’s 2nd try.

Half Time the score was WP 24 / 3

Although the rain had abated a bit after Half Time, the ball was a cake of soap and a dour period in the match ensued.

Eventually a very strong-running Duane Vermeulen broke the scoring-drought and forced his way over the try-line from 5m out and suddenly the score had ballooned to 31 / 3.

The WP bonus point for tries was duly earned with a Frikkie Welsch try on 74 minutes.

That was not the end though, Pieter Louw still had to rub more salt into the Griquas wounds, with a try, which when converted brought an end to the game.

Well done to WP with their 5-point haul in conditions that did not suit try-scoring rugby.

WP has now moved up to 44 Log Points and are assured of a semi-final spot.

Points:

WP: 4 Penalties Joe Petersen & 2 Conversions, 1 Conversion Peter Grant, Try Brock Harris & Joe Petersen & Duane Vermeulen & Frikkie Welsch & Pieter Louw

Griquas: 1 Penalty Naas Olivier

Sat Sep 26 2009 at 15:00 (local time), Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa
Altitude: 15m / Capacity: 50,900

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Frikkie Welsh, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 François Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Brock Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 Pieter Louw, 19 Martin Muller, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 Sireli Naqelevuki

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Trompie Nontshinga, 13 Jaco Bekker, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Dewald Pretorius, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Sean Plaatjies, 5 Jacques Lombard, 4 Brendon Snyman, 3 Ruaan du Preez, 2 Rayno Barnes, 1 Albertus Buckle.
Replacements: 16 Andries Kruger, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 Heinrich Stride, 19 Rohan Kitshoff, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 Wilmaure Louw, 22 Bjorn Basson.

Referee: Paul Marks
Assistant referees: Mlungiseli Mdashe, Marco van Zyl
TMO: JC Fortuin