The Blue Bulls qualified for their first Currie Cup final in seven years when they beat the WP 36-30 in the semifinal at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

While many Blue Bulls fans expected their team would easily win the game, the WP players showed quite early on they have always been a team that knows how to approach playoff games.

With Cheslin Kolbe on the forefront, the WP backline made the Blue Bulls scramble on defence a few times early in the game.

As the game went on however, the Blue Bulls played better and showed their willingness to run with the ball.

But the home team’s players were their own worst enemy with all the mistakes they made and they gave the Capetonians the chance to stay with them on the scoreboard.

Both teams scored a try in the first half and although viewers got the idea the home team was the stronger of the two, WP should have had a much bigger lead at halftime than the six points (16-10) with which they led.

The second half started disastrously for the home team when a weak pass from Tian Schoeman was snapped up by WP. This gave them the chance to attack against the run of play and it ended with a try for WP wing, Werner Kok.

The Blue Bulls fought back with a few penalties by Schoeman and a try by Jason Jenkins, but WP came back every time and scored points again, including a try by lock Jan de Klerk.

When Robert du Preez kicked his third successful penalty with 5 minutes to go, it looked like last year’s semifinal would be repeated when the WP won the game as underdogs.

However, Nollis Marais’s team showed guts and character to fight until the end. They were rewarded when Ivan van Zyl, reserve scrumhalf, scored the winning try with less than 2 minutes to go. Schoeman converted and the Blue Bulls went through to their first Currie Cup final since 2009.

SCORERS:

BLUE BULLS: 36 Tries: Travis Ismaiel, Jason Jenkins, Ivan van Zyl.  Conversions: Tian Schoeman (3). Penalties: Tian Schoeman (5).

WP: 30 Tries: Nizaam Carr, Werner Kok, Jan de Klerk. Conversions: Robert du Preez (3), Penalties: Robert du Preez (3)

Teams: 

Blue Bulls: 15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Marvin Orie, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Martin Dreyer, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Joshua Stander, 23 Bjorn Basson/Nic de Jager.

Western Province: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 JP Smith, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Johnny Kotze, 23 Scott van Breda.

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, AJ Jacobs
TMO: Shaun Veldsman

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