WP demolish Blue Bulls

Opening try: Nic Groom

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Western Province returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion after hammering the Blue Bulls 42-6 at Newlands on Saturday.

Facing a third defeat from four games in the Currie Cup, WP delivered the goods when it mattered most thanks to their five-try victory over their long-standing rivals that takes them into second spot on the standings.

In the end, it was an embarrassing defeat for the try-less visitors after being totally outplayed and now sit second from the bottom - only two points ahead of struggling Griquas.

Western Province fly-half Demetri Catrakilis had a near-flawless day with the boot, and proved yet again what a loss he'll be when he joins the Kings for next year's Super Rugby competition.

The hosts went into the half-time sheds with a handy 17-6 lead thanks to converted tries to replacement scrum-half Nic Groom and flanker Deon Fourie, with Bulls pivot Louis Fouche providing his team with two penalties that would ultimately be their only points of the game.

The home side suffered an early blow when scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenage was forced off the pitch with an injury, but Groom showed he was a worthy substitute by touching down for the first try of the night.

Fourie was denied what would have been an outstanding solo try after breaking clear and putting in a chip and chase that ended with Bulls flyer saving the day for his team. However, the hooker cum flank wasn't to be denied a few minutes later when he powered over from the back of a maul.

With WP already in the driving seat, three more tries would follow after the break as the men in blue and white stripes continued building on their momentum.

First inside centre Marcel Brache took a superb one-handed offload from JP du Plessis and maneuvered past two Bulls defenders to score, before Damian de Allende showed he has speed and an eye for the tryline - the replacement racing in from 24m out along the touchline.

And finally, Du Plessis had the final say with Western Province's fifth and final try to cap off a memorable victory for the Cape Town-based side.

The scorers:

For Western Province:
Tries: Groom, Fourie, Brache, De Allende, Du Plessis
Cons: Catrakilis 4
Pens: Catrakilis 3

For Blue Bulls:
Pens: Fouchè 2

Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Ederies Arendse, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Don Armand, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Steven Kitshoff, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Helmut Lehmann, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Damian de Allende, 22 Kurt Coleman.

Blue Bulls: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Louis Fouchè, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dewald Potgieter (c), 7 CJ Stander, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Cornell Hess, 19 Warwick Tecklenburg, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Lionel Cronje, 22 Jürgen Visser.

Referee: Lourens van der Merwe