They dominated most of the first half territory and possession as they scored two tries and a penalty to take a 15 – 5 half time lead.

Flyhalf Michael Brink opened the scoring for the home side through a penalty kick in the fourth minute, followed by their first try two minutes later. Brink converted right wing Mabhutana Peter’s try as they took a 10 – 0 lead in the seventh minute.

The home side continued to dominate the territorial stats as they crossed the line for their second try five minutes later, Brink failed to add the extras but Eastern Province took a comfortable 15 – 0 lead at the close of the first quarter.

Free State’s Janu Botha scored their first try, Ruan Wasserman was however unsuccessful to add the extras as they trailed 5 – 15 at the break.

Brink kept the score board ticking as he kicked his second penalty five minutes into the second half to extent his team’s score to 18 – 5.

With an Eastern Province player in the bin, Free State scored their second try, Wasserman was again unsuccessful to add the extra two points on offer as they trailed by eight points, 10 – 18.

Eastern Province scored a further ten points in quick succession as Brink kicked his third penalty and converted their third try to push their score to 28 – 10 with just under twenty minutes to play. Continued pressure from the home side allowed Brink to kick his fourth penalty as he took the score to 31 – 10 ten minutes later.

Free State’s Glen Eriksen scored a consolation try for his team after Eastern Province were reduced to fourteen men for the second time in the half. Eriksen failed to convert his own try as they trailed 15 – 31 with three minutes to go.

Replacement flyhalf Garrick Mattheus attempted a penalty kick to play out the final minutes of the match, but failed to add a further three points to Eastern Province’s score as the game ended 31 – 15.

Eastern Province will face the Blue Bulls in the final at Ellispark on Saturday as they held on to a single point to beat Western Province at Loftus in the second semifinal.

Scorers:

Eastern Province (15) 31 – Tries: Junior Pokomela, Mabhutana Peter, Nicolaas Oosthuizen. Conversions: Michael Brink (2). Penalties: Michael Brink (4).

Toyota Free State (5) 15 – Tries: Glen Eriksen, Janu Botha, Victor Maruping.