By Brenden Nel.
Toyota Cheetahs flyhalf Siya Masuku slotted a pressure kick on the final whistle to send his side through to the EPCR Challenge Cup playoffs with a nai-biting 9-6 win over French side Section Paloise (Pau) in Parma on Sunday.
It looked as if it was all over for the Cheetahs as Pau controlled the ball as the seconds counted down and simply needed to see time out to get the draw and get themselves into the round of 16.
But the French side infringed and gave the Cheetahs a last-gasp penalty that they took with both hands and Masuku stepped up to put through the biggest kick of his career and give the Cheetahs the ending they wanted.
For a side like the Cheetahs, who missed out on the United Rugby Championship and were given a lifeline to prove what they could do, it was poor gold.
The Bloemfontein side had to pay their own way and had to be based in Europe, giving them home games in Italy and not Bloemfontein.
And now they have become the fifth side in South Africa to qualify for the last 16 in their respective competition and will be a massive boost for their hopes of gaining more permanent entry into Europe in the future.
The Cheetahs will now face Toulon away in their last 16 game, and while they will be big underdogs, they are still in the competition.
Given Pau could have settled for the draw, and had a better points difference to Hawies Fourie’s side, the game could easily have been a draw, but the never-say-die attitude of the Cheetahs won through in the end.
As a game it wasn’t a spectacle – both sides more worried about making mistakes than going for the victory and it showed as both sides struggled to get on top and no tries were scored in the game.
For the Cheetahs their errors counted against them at times when they were on attack. As frustrating as it was, they never seemed to take the game by the scruff of the neck and allowed Pau to keep them pinned in their own half for most of the second half.
There were times when it seemed the French side were getting on top, but some exceptional defence kept them out.
Jeandre Rudolph, Victor Sekekete and Rewan Kruger all starred for the Cheetahs, but there were too many errors for both sides to be proud of their performance.
Instead this was an arm-wrestle, a grind on a night where nobody deserved to lose, and nobody really did enough to win.
That was until Masuku got the chance to give his side a celebration and as the ball sailed through the posts, the Cheetahs bench erupted.
They had survived the toughest test of their character, and they were still in Europe.
And that, thanks to the Masuku kick, will leave them smiling for the next few weeks.
Scorers
Toyota Cheetahs – Penalties: Siya Masuku (3)
Section Paloise – Penalties: Thibault Debaes (2).