Western Province shot to the top of the Currie Cup standings after a 38-12 bonus-point victory over Griquas at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday night.
WP scored six tries to secure their fourth consecutive bonus-point win of the competition. They are ahead of the Sharks because of a superior points difference ahead of the meeting with the Durban side at Newlands next Saturday.
The Capetonians' backline play has been fantastic this season, as they have sliced open all comers so far this season. And, in the first 30 minutes against Griquas, it looked like home side were on the way to a cricket score of sorts. Wing Sergeal Petersen continued his stellar season with a brace of tries and also had a hand in some of his teammates' tries.
Province's pack has laid the foundation for their backs to run riot so far this season, and the home side battered the Kimberley outfit at set-piece time and gave talented scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies the time and space to cause havoc with his crisp service and breaks around fringes.
WP earned their bonus-point before the half-hour mark following tries from flyhalf Josh Stander, Petersen, Jantjies and No 8 Juarno Augustus. Petersen, who missed the Stormers' entire Super Rugby campaign through injury, then scored a magnificent second try to give the home a 33-0 lead.
Griquas, though, hit back against the run of play before the break after Kyle Steyn profited from a WP mistake to open the visitors' account.
The second half, however, was a bit of an anti-climax, WP started to take their foot off the petrol. Griquas scored the first try of the second half through fullback AJ Coertzen, but WP finished the match off on a high when wing JJ Engelbrecht finished off a lovely team try.
Point scorers:
Western Province - Tries: Josh Stander, Sergeal Petersen (2), Herschel Jantjies, Juarno Augustus, JJ Engelbrecht. Conversions: Stander (4).
Griquas - Tries: Kyle Steyn, AJ Coertzen. Conversion: George Whitehead.