Johannesburg - Wing Devon Williams scored four tries before half-time as Western Province outclassed the Tusker Simba XV 65-29 at Newlands, in Cape Town on Saturday.
Captain Rohan Kitshoff went over barely after the match had started and the hosts had a 5-0 lead after flyhalf Gary van Aswegen missed the conversion.
Flyhalf Kenny Andola responded for the Kenyans as he kicked a penalty to get his side on the board.
Williams scored his first try of the afternoon and a pattern started to emerge as Van Aswegen missed another kick at goal.
The hosts were under a slight bit of pressure as first centre Fabian Ogutu and then fullback Tony Opondo scored to grab the lead at 13-10.
Andola converted the second try to give Simba XV a handy 15-10 lead before Province clicked into gear.
Johnny Kotze, playing in the number 13 jumper, went wide to outpace the would-be defender and draw the teams’ level. Van Aswegen missed his third kick and it was left to Williams to seize the initiative.
The speedster scored three tries in a blitz of seven minutes to take the home team out to a 30-15 lead.
Van Asgewen finally managed to convert a try and the score was 32-15 after 36 minutes of play.
Opondo scored his second try after running onto a superb delayed pass by Ogutu and left his opposite number Tiger Bax for dead after he swerved past him without being touched.
Andola duly converted and the Simba XV had narrowed the gap and only trailed 32-22 going into the final moments of the half.
The Kenyan scrum was penalised just before the break and eighthman Carel du Preez seized an opportunity. He took a quick tap and went for the try-line, going over for try number seven of the match.
Van Aswegen continued with his poor afternoon as he missed the simple conversion and the half-time score was 37-22 to the home side.
Du Preez scored next with a dart over in the corner.
Kurt Coleman was successful with his first conversion of the afternoon after entering the fray at flyhalf.
Eighthman Joshua Chisanga scored a fourth try for his side after the Province defenders were unable to bring down the big man.
The conversion by Andola made it 44-29 and this was the last time the Kenyans troubled the scorers.
Prop Christo “Tiny” van Wyk dotted down after sniping from a ruck before Kitshoff scored twice more to complete his hat-trick of tries. Replacement Martin Omondi was sent to the sin-bin after an indiscretion and Province looked to capitalise on the numerical advantage.
Coleman converted all three of these tries to stake a strong claim for the starting berth next week.
Scorers:
Western Province: Tries: Rohan Kitshoff (3), Devon Williams (4), Johnny Kotze, Carel du Preez (2), Christo van Wyk; Conversions: Gary van Aswegen (2), Kurt Coleman (3).
Tusker Simba XV: Tries: Fabian Ogutu, Tony Opondo (2), Joshua Chisanga; Conversions: Kenny Andola (3) ; Penalty: Andola