Province still in chase

Western Province outclassed the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday night and bagged a comfortable 62-10 victory as they ran in eight tries to the one of the home side.

The win closed the gap on log leaders the Sharks to four points with the Durban men still to face the Cheetahs at home.

Flyhalf Willem de Waal opened the scoring for WP with a third-minute penalty conceded at the breakdown.

Within three minutes the Pumas were blown up for the same infringement, allowing De Waal to extend the lead to 6-0.

Then a long-range penalty conversion by flyhalf Elgar Watts reduced the deficit to three, but WP were the dominating force and most of the tackling had to be done by the hosts.

The frantic pace at which the opening stages of the match was contested eventually caught up with the Pumas and they had to watch wing JJ Engelbrecht score his team's first of three five pointers in the first half.

De Waal converted and the Pumas realised they would have to start controlling the tempo of the match much better than they had up to that point.

WP continued to dominate territorially but despite several great opportunities they had to wait until the 27th minute to increase their lead.

A smart break by Springbok centre Jean de Villiers - who squandered two chances earlier - resulted in the second try of the evening. After De Waal converted the visitors had a 17-point lead.

The only other chance for the Pumas came in the 32nd minute, but Watts pulled it to the left of the upright.

A few nifty runs by Pumas scrumhalf Hendrik van der Nest were never going to be enough to pierce the Cape Town side's defence and by remaining patient in their build-up they were eventually rewarded when Bok centre Juan de Jongh went over for an outstanding five-pointer.

WP started the second half with the same intensity and once again the interplay between forwards and backs proved to be too much to handle for the men from Mpumalanga.

Their control at the contact situation made it an even tougher challenge for the home side who made more unforced errors as the match progressed.

Wing Gio Aplon scored the bonus-point try in the 57th minute and signs of fatigue started to become more evident in the Pumas' defence.

From a Pumas perspective the highlight of the match came when Watts sneaked past two WP defenders to dive over for their only five-pointer of the match. He also converted.

But as the match progressed the visitors showed why they are still contenders for the top log positions as flank Francois Louw stretched over for his first of two tries with Aplon scoring his second minutes later.

With 18 minutes left to play WP were in front 48-10 but remained as eager to score tries when their replacements came on as they were in the opening stages of the match.

The Pumas tried their best to retain possession for longer periods but could not get over the advantage line and instead had to watch the visitors score from a well-executed rolling maul.

That try was Louw's second of the evening, but unfortunately for the hosts it wasn't over yet as replacement Paul Bosh celebrated his return with a try two minutes into injury time.

A last-minute try by Griquas star fullback Riaan Viljoen helped Griquas defeat Leopards 29-20 in Kimberley on Friday night and keep their slim Absa Currie Cup semifinal hopes alive.

But it was the men from Potchefstroom who led 17-15 at half time.

Viljoen's second try of the night also earned his team a vital bonus point which could be crucial at the end of the league stage.

But Griquas made far too many mistakes for a team hoping to qualify for the semifinals.

The Leopards were first on the board in the sixth minute when Walter Venter picked up the ball next to the ruck and had only two metres to run for the first score of the evening.

A brilliant 30m run by hooker Ryno Barnes set up Viljoen's first try. Barnes was outstanding all night with a few storming runs. He worked just as hard in the loose.

As so often this year, Griquas needed this score to help kick- start them into action. Shortly afterwards flanker Johan van Deventer dotted down for the hosts, thanks to a nice break by Griquas outside centre Wilmaure Louw who handed off two defenders before he was brought down centimetres short of the line. Van Deventer only had to dive over to score.

But a second Venter score announced the visitors' presence.

They could easily have added another score or two if the ball had bounced their way.

Venter's second try was an even softer score. From first- phase position Venter threw a dummy which Griquas bought and he was through under the crossbar without a hand being laid on him.

Leopards' Clayton Durand, who converted both tries, and Naas Olivier both added a penalty kick in the first half.

Durand kicked his second three-pointer right from the start of the second period for a 20-15 lead.

In the 53rd minute a Justin Downey try for the home team levelled matters before an Olivier conversion from the right-hand corner gave the Peacock Blues a slender 22-20 lead.

Unfortunately the second 40 minutes was just as ugly as the first. It was almost a case of who was going to make the next mistake.

Griquas had a few opportunities to earn the forth and bonus- point try, but kept the crowd nervous until two minutes before the end when Viljoen's try wrapped up the game.