Wing Sergeal Petersen scored a brace and impressed with his all-round performance in Western Province's comfortable 57-28 Currie Cup victory over the Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspuit on Friday night.
Petersen, who missed the Stormers' entire Super Rugby campaign after he tore his medial collateral ligament during a Rugby Challenge warm-up game back in March, was a constant threat, as he also set up a couple of tries with his wonderful offloading and his ability to chase and collect high balls.
Province scored four unanswered tries to power their way into 26-0 lead, but conceded the first points scored against them in the 2018 competition in 110 minutes of rugby when the Pumas scored two successive tries to go into the shed 29-14.
The home side had their moments in the second half, but WP scored four more tries to consolidate their lead at the top of the standings ahead of the final two matches of the weekend on Saturday.
WP had a couple of Springboks in their ranks who will be making the long trip Down Under on Saturday of their Australian leg of the Rugby Championship.
Tighthead prop Wilco Louw caught the eye with a top performance at scrum time, which earned WP plenty of penalties and front-foot ball.
Centre Damian de Allende also had a good outing, and his distribution was especially sharp after setting up two tries on the night. Sikhumbuzo Notshe also had a busy night, as he played the role of the link man in the WP back row.
Point scorers:
Pumas - Tries: JP Lewis, Le Roux Roets, Trompie Pretorius, Christopher Smith. Conversions: Smith (4).
Western Province - Tries: Kobus van Dyk, Sergeal Petersen (2), Ruhan Nel, SP Marais, Ernst van Rhyn, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Herschel Jantjies. Conversions: SP Marais (7). Penalty: Marais.