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WP break Lions golden run

Cape Town - Western Province flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis gave a flawless kicking display to steer his team to a thrilling 28-26 (halftime 9-17) ABSA Currie Cup win over the Golden Lions at Newlands on Friday.

The pivot scored 23 points from a conversion, six penalties and a drop-goal to keep the Cape side in the top four while handing the Lions their first defeat of the campaign.

Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies was equally lethal with the boot in this highly physical encounter, scoring 16 points from two conversions, three penalties and a drop-goal. He missed a 53-metre effort to win the game after the hooter sounded.

In all the lead changed six times and several key players appeared to sustain bad injuries as only three tries were scored in a match characterised by bruising defence.

The Lions lost skipper Josh Strauss to a shoulder injury at the end of the first half while WP lost No 8 Pieter Louw and flank Siya Kolisi inside the first half.

The home team enjoyed the bulk of possession and territory in the first half, but their predictable approach of shipping the ball down the line while drifting towards the touchline made it easy for the Lions' defence.

Admittedly the Lions still had to make their tackles but WP runners made soft targets as no one really hit the line at pace and no one straightened it.

That all changed after the break with the introduction of Springboks Juan de Jongh and Gio Aplon to the WP backline. The pair added spark and more importantly penetration and had a hand in creating Province’s first try for centre Johann Sadie in the 53rd minute in a sweeping move that went through numerous phases.

The Lions, by contrast, more frequently made decent yards with ball in hand thanks to their more direct approach, where hooker Bandise Maku and flank Derrick Minnie were prominent.

One of those build-ups led to the Lions’ opening try in the 23rd minute scored by centre Alwyn Hollenbach. After a series of drives, the Lions were positioned just outside the Province 22. Scrumhalf Michael Bondesio stabbed through a speculative kick which wing JJ Engelbrecht failed to control under pressure from Lions lock Franco van der Merwe.

Engelbrecht’s desperate fling pass went loose and Hollenbach was quickest to pounce on the loose ball.

From the restart WP created pressure on the Lions' tryline and won a five-metre scrum. Their worked move, where scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage operated at flyhalf, turned into a nightmare though.

Duvenage threw a long pass that everyone saw coming and none quicker than Lions centre Lionel Mapoe, who intercepted and raced 90 metres for the score.

At 17-9 down the match appeared to be slipping away from the home team. But Catrakilis kept his cool for a perfect kicking display.

SCORERS:

WP – Try: Johann Sadie. Conversion: Demetri Catrakilis. Penalties: Catrakilis (6). Drop-Goal: Catrakilis.

Golden Lions – Tries: Alwyn Hollenbach, Lionel Mapoe. Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2). Penalties: Jantjies (3). Drop-Goal: Jantjies

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