Vodacom Western Province stumbled and fumbled their way to a 9-3 (halftime 6-0) victory over the Free State Cheetahs in a dreary ABSA Currie Cup match in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.Persistent rain earlier in the day made for waterlogged conditions and sporadic showers during the match only added to the tally of handling errors.

Flyhalf Willem de Waal again carried the load for Western Province, scoring all his team’s points with three successful penalty-kicks. The Cheetahs managed to goal a single penalty in three attempts by flyhalf Chris Rossouw.

The highlight of a tiresome match was the home team’s accurate lineout, as Western Province won 14 of 18 attempts at the set piece. The Cheetahs only claimed six of their 10 lineout throws, thanks in most part to the spoiling work of WP locks Ross Skeate and Adriaan Fondse.

Western Province scored first when the Cheetahs were penalised for leaving their feet while joining the ruck, and De Waal banged over a 25-metre penalty after 15 minutes of play.

Both teams put high premiums on territorial gains throughout the match - which saw the ball spend more time in the air above the Newlands pitch than the circling seagulls - but the Cheetahs’ tactic of hoofing the ball directly into touch gave WP numerous opportunities to exercise their well-drilled lineout manoeuvres in the first quarter.

WP scrumhalf Alistair Siegelaar’s pedestrian tactical kicks ironically paid dividends as the visitors failed to effectively support the ball-carrier on the counter-attack and, after a missed attempt two minutes earlier, De Waal slotted his second penalty with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

The home team’s 6-0 lead at the break was cut in half by Rossouw’s 25-metre penalty kick eight minutes into the third quarter, after WP number eight AJ Venter was nabbed in an off-sides position by referee Craig Joubert.

But De Waal reclaimed his team’s six-point cushion three minutes later when Cheetahs captain Hendro Scholtz was penalised for not rolling away from the tackled ball-carrier, and the WP flyhalf drilled a 25-metre kick over the crossbar.

Western Province coach Allister Coetzee will be relieved to have claimed four vital log points, despite his team’s numerous miscues. Meanwhile, the Cheetahs will be disappointed to have travelled 1004 kilometres from Bloemfontein to score all of three points - though the loss-margin bonus point will be of some consolation.

Both teams end the weekend tied with nine log points which - depending on the result of the match between the Sharks and Blue Bulls - could see them sharing first place in a three-way tie with the Durban-based team.

SCORERS:

WP - Penalties: Willem de Waal (3) .

Cheetahs - Penalty: Chris Rossouw.

Source: sarugby.com