12-09-2005, 04:51 AM
Centre Jean de Villiers scored a hat trick of tries as Western Province annihilated the Sharks 47-19 in their Currie Cup clash at Newlands on Saturday.
The Springbok star's elusive running combined with the crash-tackling of De Wet Barry and slick passing of flyhalf Peter Grant were the key elements in setting up the victory.
De Villiers scored his three tries in a devastating first-half spell. After Grant and Sharks fullback Percy Montgomery had twice exchanged penalties, the game came alive in the 20th minute as De Villiers ran in for his first try off the third phase from a rolling maul.
His second came from a brilliant backline move. Barry ran a superb decoy and De Villiers took a brilliant pass from Grant to finish under the posts.
Grant and De Villiers combined in a similar manner in the 36th minute and WP were 27-12 up by half-time, with the Sharks only having managed four Montgomery penalties.
The bonus point was notched two minutes after the break. Fullback Werner Greeff found Barry with a reverse pass and after a strong surge the outstanding inside centre off-loaded to flank Joe van Niekerk, who touched down.
Grant converted for a fourth time and at 34-12 up there was no way WP were going to let it slip.
In fact, they increased their lead shortly afterwards as Grant slotted another penalty. Province continued to pile on the pressure and Grant added another penalty in the 66th minute that increased the lead to 40-12.
The desperate Sharks threw everything into the attack and eventually exploited a mistake by the home side to score a consolation try through pacy wing Henno Mentz.
Dick Muir's side continued to press in the hope of giving the scoreline some respectability, but a counter-attack from WP's 22-metre area ended with the previous week's hat-trick hero, Zhahier Ryland, finishing under the Sharks' posts. Grant's conversion made it 47-19.
Apart from being outplayed in all areas by WP, the Sharks were also their own worst enemies, with scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, replacement loose forward Warren Britz and centre Adrian Jacobs all sin-binned.
Granted Jacobs's yellow card was late in the day, but it was nevertheless indicative of a lack of discipline by the Sharks.
Province's replacement hooker Hanyani Shimange also got his marching orders in the second half, but there may well be a citing as a WP player was stamped in the face at the ruck where the incident occurred.
The excellent victory follows the previous week's impressive performance against the Lions and WP's Premier Division campaign now appears well on track after poor performances against Boland and the Blue Bulls.
As for the Sharks, they have a lot of work ahead, with this the second disappointing performance in a row.
They named a side with Ruan Pienaar at flyhalf, only to start with Brent Russell. However, Barry was an intimidating presence in the midfield for WP and the Sharks seldom looked as if they were going to get to grips with the physical threat.
De Villiers was predictably named man of the match, but he'll be the first to acknowledge that this was a terrific team effort and he owed a lot to the men on either side of him..
Scorers:
Province: Tries: Centre Jean de Villiers(3), flank Joe van Niekerk, wing Zhahier Ryland. Conversions: Flyhalf Peter Grant (5). Penalties: Grant (4).
Sharks: Try: Left wing Henno Mentz. Conversion: Fullback Percy Montgomery. Penalties: Montgomery (4). – Sapa
The Springbok star's elusive running combined with the crash-tackling of De Wet Barry and slick passing of flyhalf Peter Grant were the key elements in setting up the victory.
De Villiers scored his three tries in a devastating first-half spell. After Grant and Sharks fullback Percy Montgomery had twice exchanged penalties, the game came alive in the 20th minute as De Villiers ran in for his first try off the third phase from a rolling maul.
His second came from a brilliant backline move. Barry ran a superb decoy and De Villiers took a brilliant pass from Grant to finish under the posts.
Grant and De Villiers combined in a similar manner in the 36th minute and WP were 27-12 up by half-time, with the Sharks only having managed four Montgomery penalties.
The bonus point was notched two minutes after the break. Fullback Werner Greeff found Barry with a reverse pass and after a strong surge the outstanding inside centre off-loaded to flank Joe van Niekerk, who touched down.
Grant converted for a fourth time and at 34-12 up there was no way WP were going to let it slip.
In fact, they increased their lead shortly afterwards as Grant slotted another penalty. Province continued to pile on the pressure and Grant added another penalty in the 66th minute that increased the lead to 40-12.
The desperate Sharks threw everything into the attack and eventually exploited a mistake by the home side to score a consolation try through pacy wing Henno Mentz.
Dick Muir's side continued to press in the hope of giving the scoreline some respectability, but a counter-attack from WP's 22-metre area ended with the previous week's hat-trick hero, Zhahier Ryland, finishing under the Sharks' posts. Grant's conversion made it 47-19.
Apart from being outplayed in all areas by WP, the Sharks were also their own worst enemies, with scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, replacement loose forward Warren Britz and centre Adrian Jacobs all sin-binned.
Granted Jacobs's yellow card was late in the day, but it was nevertheless indicative of a lack of discipline by the Sharks.
Province's replacement hooker Hanyani Shimange also got his marching orders in the second half, but there may well be a citing as a WP player was stamped in the face at the ruck where the incident occurred.
The excellent victory follows the previous week's impressive performance against the Lions and WP's Premier Division campaign now appears well on track after poor performances against Boland and the Blue Bulls.
As for the Sharks, they have a lot of work ahead, with this the second disappointing performance in a row.
They named a side with Ruan Pienaar at flyhalf, only to start with Brent Russell. However, Barry was an intimidating presence in the midfield for WP and the Sharks seldom looked as if they were going to get to grips with the physical threat.
De Villiers was predictably named man of the match, but he'll be the first to acknowledge that this was a terrific team effort and he owed a lot to the men on either side of him..
Scorers:
Province: Tries: Centre Jean de Villiers(3), flank Joe van Niekerk, wing Zhahier Ryland. Conversions: Flyhalf Peter Grant (5). Penalties: Grant (4).
Sharks: Try: Left wing Henno Mentz. Conversion: Fullback Percy Montgomery. Penalties: Montgomery (4). – Sapa