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Western Province outclass EP Kings

Port Elizabeth - The Eastern Province Kings battled to stay in the game against a determined and hungry the Western Province at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium on Saturday afternoon.

While the Kings opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, ill discipline and poor defence cost the home team and saw the visitors win by a comfortable 36-6.

The EP Kings took an early lead with Kobus Marais comfortably converting a penalty.

Western Province winger, Leolin Zas beat the Kings defenders in the 12th minute and ran in a 40m try, converted by Brandon Thompson, putting WP in the lead, 7-3.

Huw Jones broke through the defence just a minute later, but a referral to the TMO saw the decision reversed as winger Zas stepped out before passing to Jones.

Five minutes later and it was an almost exact replay, except this time Zas stayed in the field of play and Jones dotted the ball over the whitewash. Thompson missed the conversion and Western Province led 12-3.

Shortly after EP’s eighth man, Christaan de Bruin, was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes with a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.

WP didn’t wait long to take advantage of their superior numbers on the field and winger Werner Kok blasted through the Kings defence to dot down the ball between the posts. A TMO referral saw the offload to Kok ruled forward, and the try was not awarded.

In the 32nd minute the Kings dominated a scrum and won the penalty, with Marais converting the from roughly 40m out to make it 12-6.

Two minutes before half time and Kings were once again down to 14 men as Etienne Oosthuizen got yellow carded.

Western Province put in a solid scrum on the Kings 5m line, driving over the whitewash with Sikhumbuzo Notshe adding the 5 points for the visitors as the half time whistle sounded. Western Province went into the break leading 17-6.

The second half got off to a slow start, but is was Western Province’s Jano Vermaak adding the first points on the board with his try for the visitors in the 58th minute. Thompson converted, taking Western Province to a 24-6 lead.

Jones once again shone through in the 72nd minute, after breaking through the Kings defensive line and running in from centre field for his second try. 

Not to let an opportunity pass, Jones ran in his hat-trick try of the evening just three minutes later, dotting it neatly between the posts, with Thompson converting and taking the visitors to a comfortable 30 point lead.

Scorers:

Eastern Province Kings

Penalties: K Marais (2)

DHL Western Province

Tries: H Jones (3), S Notshe, J Vermaak, L Zas

Conversions: B Thomson (3)
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