Braam van Straaten kicked Western Province into a commanding position in their bid to retain their Currie Cup title as they squeaked past the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Springbok centre scored all 22 points to continue his love affair with Loftus as Province marched into the next round with 12 points, while the Bulls take through six.

In a day where kicking dominated, the Blue Bulls paid the price for not playing a specialist goal-kicker as flyhalf Boeta Wessels missed four penalties. A final penalty after the hooter had gone could have given the Bulls a draw, but the kick went wide.

However, the young Blue Bulls side showed that the resurgence in the province is no fluke as they clawed and nailed down a strong Province side and provided their own thrills and spills in an error-ridden game.

A worrying factor for Springbok coach Harry Viljoen and his coaching staff must be the high penalty count, which was close to 40 in the game as referee Jonathan Kaplan kept a strict eye on the rules.

For a moment it looked as if the Bulls were to be outclassed when Province opened the scoring with a well-worked try as early as the second minute when Breyton Paulse engineered a counter attack which went through five pairs of hands before Van Straaten found the gap to score.

But the Bulls didn't wait long to reply, with Springbok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen signalling he is still far from over the hill as he stretched an arm over the tryline to put the
Bulls back in the lead.

After that Kaplan's whistle took over with little more to write home about as the boots of Van Straaten and Wessels started their own personal duel.

Both sides tried desperately to attack, but were thwarted by handling errors at crucial stages which brought down a tense finale.

The Bulls looked dead and buried when they were caught behind their own tryline in the dying seconds, but mounted the bravest of counter attacks which ended just outside the Province' 22, where they were awarded a penalty when Bob Skinstad grabbed the ball in an offside position.

However, the drama ended when Wessels drew the ball past the left-hand upright.

Scorers:

Blue Bulls - Tries: Joost van der Westhuizen; Conversions: Boeta Wessels; Penalties: Boeta Wessels (4).

Western Province - Tries: Braam van Straaten; Conversions: Van Straaten; Penalties: Van Straaten (5).

Scoring Sequence:

First Half: 7-0 Van Straaten try, Van Straaten conversion (3rd minute); 7-3 Wessels penalty (4th); 7-10 Van der Westhuizen try, Wessels conversion (8th); 10-10 Van Straaten penalty (10th); 10-13 Wessels penalty (12th); 13-13 Van Straaten penalty (18th); 13-16 Wessels penalty (21st); 16-16 Van Straaten penalty (31st); 19-16 Van Straaten penalty (40th).

Second Half: 22-16 Van Straaten penalty (18th); 22-19 Wessels penalty (23rd).

Teams:

Blue Bulls: Hannes Venter, McNeil Hendricks, Frikkie Welsh, Boeta Wessels, Gavin Passens, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Joost van der Westhuizen, Chris le Roux (capt), Piet Joubert, Anton Leonard, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Piet Boer, Danie Coetzee, Sias Wagner. Substitutes: Jannie Brooks, Wessel Roux, Rudi du Randt, Danie Rossouw; Rayno Hendricks, Tiaan Joubert, Coenraad Groenewald.

Western Province: Percy Montgomery, Gus Theron, De Wet Barry, Braam van Straaten, Breyton Paulse, Chris Rossouw, Neil de Kock, Bob Skinstad, Corne Krige (capt), Hendrik Gerber, Hottie Louw, Quinton Davids, Cobus Visagie, Charl Marais, Robbie Kempson. Substitutes: Pieter Dixon, Toks van der Linde, Thys Stoltz, Adri Badenhorst, Johannes Conradie, Werner Greeff, Donovan van Vuuren.