Dewaldt Duvenage says Western Province have learnt from an opening-round defeat and will respond with vigour against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Province were well beaten by the Bulls in round 1 at Cape Town Stadium. The hosts leaked six tries, struggled at the set-piece, and had three players, including both starting locks, sent to the sin bin during a chaotic first half.

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Duvenage believes WP’s lack of possession in the opening 40 minutes left little room to build pressure and gave the Bulls a platform for dominance.

“We can’t beat around the bush,” said Duvenage. “In the first half we only had three opportunities with ball in hand.

“Our discipline let us down and we struggled at the set-piece. We started with 10 debutants. It’s time to learn from the experience and rectify our mistakes. It’s a good thing that everything was under the microscope in the first game so we could see what is going wrong.”

“The Bulls was a tough game but it is in Western Province’s DNA to bounce back. Every game is different. We are going to keep our cards close to our chest going into the Lions match.”

The Lions head into Saturday’s match on the back of a 46-5 win over the Sharks XV, scoring seven tries at Ellis Park.

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Duvenage was impressed with Junior Boks flyhalf Kyle Smith, who scored a try and kicked two conversions and a pair of penalties. His combination with Damian Markus and Luke Burger showed great promise promise, despite limited opportunities.

“Kyle Smith had a brilliant game,” added Duvenage. “He organised the attack and was superb kicking for goal. With Tristan Leyds as well, we feel we have the options to play how we want to play. Jurie Mathee is also coming back from concussion, so we have three great players at flyhalf.”

For Burger, the game marked his first midfield appearance alongside Markus, and he is confident the combination will grow with time.

“We have a really good relationship. There is a lot of room to improve but we are feeling comfortable moving forward,” said Burger. “It was my first game with Damian. He’s amazing with ball in hand and great at drawing defenders, which gives me more space and time to make decisions.

“With more time together in midfield we can only get better.”

Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images