Province rout sloppy Kings
Western Province cemented their place at the top of the Currie Cup standings with a 49-14 rout of a hapless Eastern Province Kings outfit.
The seven tries to two victory at Newlands on Friday seldom reached any great heights, despite the lopsided scoreline.
The Kings, who looked out of their depth, will be the first to admit that their skills are not good enough to make them competitive in South Africa's premier domestic competition.
Province, who again showed their willingness to play an expansive game, would have won by much more if it were not for the litany of errors and lapses in discipline that cost them at times.
The hosts, the only remaining unbeaten team in the Currie Cup, picked up their third bonus-point win of the season in the process.
Skipper Juan de Jongh opened his team's tally in the 11th minute when he snapped up a loose EP Kings pass, that after kickers Scott van Breda (Kings) and Demetri Catrakilis (WP) missed goal-kicks inside the first 10 minutes.
Catrakilis made no mistake with the conversion of De Jongh's try, however, and he repeated the treatment four more times as Province racked up the bonus point within 48 minutes of play - that after leading 21-7 at half-time.
De Jongh completed his try double in the 22nd minute, following on from a try (from a maul) by Siya Kolisi in the 17th minute, before that man Cheslin Kolbe sealed the four-try bonus point with a cheeky individual effort in the 48th minute.
Kolbe snapped up a hack-ahead from the Kings on his own 10-metre line - having been forced to back-track with his team on the attack, before switching on the after-burners and beating a host of defenders en route to the goalline.
A second-half yellow card to replacement forward Rynhardt Elstadt could have slowed things down for the hosts, but right wing Kobus van Wyk snapped up a loose pass right-away and ran off for his fourth try in three matches, before Elstadt dotted down upon his return from the bin.
Kolisi completed his try-double shortly before full-time, with replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman adding the extras on both occasions, as the Kings finished off, to their credit, with an excellent score by former Province man Tim Whitehead.
Man of the match: No.5 lock Ruan Botha produce a mammoth effort, while loose forwards Nizaam Carr and Siya Kolisi also had their moments. However, our award goes to one of the game's most electric men - fullback Cheslin Kolbe, for a moment of sublime entertainment when he went on a mazy run and stepping a few forwards along the way.
The scorers:
For Western Province:
Tries: De Jongh 2, Kolisi 2, Kolbe, Van Wyk, Elstadt
Cons: Catrakilis , Coleman 2
For the Eastern Province Kings:
Tries: Schoeman, T Whitehead
Cons: Van Breda 2
Yellow cards: Rynhardt Elstadt (Western Province, 57 - foul play, charging with a shoulder into an opponent's head), David Bulbring (Eastern Province Kings, 69 - professional foul, cynically kicking the ball away)
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Rynhardt Elstadt, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Justin Geduld.
Eastern Province Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Ronnie Cooke, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Dwayne Jenner, 11 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Paul Schoeman, 6 Shaun MacDonald, 5 Steven Sykes (Captain), 4 David Bulbring, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Mike van Vuuren, 17 CJ Van der Linde, 18 Thembelani Bholi, 19 Stefan Willemse, 20 Tobie Botes, 21 Shane Gates, 22 Siyanda Grey.
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman, Marc van Zyl
TMO: Shaun Veldsman