Province fight back to win Currie Cup

Huw Jones signed off in style with a double as Western Province blew the Sharks away in the second half to win the Currie Cup with a 33-21 victory in a thriller at Kings Park on Saturday.

The Sharks finished the regular season 10 points clear of Province at the top of the table, but John Dobson’s men scored 23 points without reply to win the title for a 34th time and silence the Durban crowd.

Veteran wing Odwa Ndungane put the Sharks in front with an early try in the last game of his career, but Scotland centre Jones went under the posts at the other end in his final appearance for Province before linking up with Glasgow Warriors.

Dan du Preez went over for a second Sharks try between a couple of penalties from Curwin Bosch, who also landed a drop-goal, but Dillyn Leyds went over just before half-time after Province put together phase after phase to reduce the deficit to 21-15.

Province took their game to another level after the break, Cobus Wiese cutting the gap to just a point by crossing after great work from Nizaam Carr and Jones put his side in front for the first time after taking an offload from Seabelo Senatla to score his second try just three minutes later.

Robert du Preez collected the extras and added two penalties, the second resulting in his brother Dan being shown a yellow card, as Province ended their three-year wait for yet another Currie Cup title.