Hacjivah Dayimani scored twice as Western Province ended their Currie Cup campaign on a high with a bonus-point victory over the Sharks in Cape Town on Saturday.
Despite the comfortable 44-5 victory, Western Province missed out on a place in the Currie Cup playoffs, as the Vodacom Bulls grabbed a couple of bonus points to seal fourth place in a loss to the Cheetahs in Pretoria.
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The result at Cape Town Stadium also meant that the Sharks missed out on a first-place finish and will host the Pumas in the semi-finals. The Cheetahs will take on the Bulls in the other semi-final in Bloemfontein.
The Sharks, who came into the game on the back of a seven-game winning run, made 14 changes to their starting lineup but were still able to call on the likes of Curwin Bosch, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Werner Kok and Phepsi Buthelezi.
However, it was Province, burning from a loss to Griquas in Kimberley last week, who flew out of the blocks, opening the scoring through a couple of penalties from flyhalf Jurie Matthee, before Ben-Jason Dixon showed great skill to pounce on an error from Kok to score the opening try.
It got even better for the hosts as Marcel Theunissen, fresh from a brace against Griquas, dotted down from a quick-tap penalty, before Hacjivah Dayimani stretched his legs to score and give Province a 25-0 lead at half-time.
Some quick hands and it is @Hacjivah who glides over for the third try.
?⚪️ 25-0 ? (38 mins)#WPvSHA #wpjoulekkerding #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/BUHqvLaJJ0
— WP RUGBY (@WP_RUGBY) June 10, 2023
Dayimani got his second try just after the break, reaching over in the corner after Andre-Hugo Venter showed slick hands to get the ball to him. As if to illustrate the Sharks’ problems, the visitors had a try chalked off for a knock-on and then Province went straight upfield to score through Ruben van Heerden after a linebreak from Leolin Zas.
Jarrod Taylor brought up 40 points with a powerful run to the tryline and the Sharks eventually got their try through Marnus Potgieter, but it came after a grand total of 34 phases after the hooter.
Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix