Staff Reporter.
The Toyota Cheetahs made the most of their one-man advantage by running away with a 52-15 victory against the Fidelity ADT Lions in Currie Cup action on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors scored eight tries to two as they ran away with matters in a match marred by a red card to Lions lock Raynard Roets in the first half.
The hosts got off to a perfect start with the kick-off formalities barely over. Lock Darrien-Lane Landsberg bundled his way over the line before flyhalf Vaughen Isaacs knocked over the simple conversion to put the Lions 7-0 in front.
The Cheetahs hit back nearly immediately as fullback Tapiwa Mafura was on hand to dot down for the visitors, who were now dominating all facets of play.
Isaacs may have knocked over another penalty but the half belonged to the Cheetahs. In particular, eighthman Jeandre Rudolph was impressive in both halves of the field. He first scored midway through the half to put his side 14-10 in front before making some impressive tackles at the other end of the pitch.
Veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar was sent to the sin bin in the 26th minute for a cynical foul but the Cheetahs weren’t punished on the scoreboard. In fact, both sides were down to 14 men shortly thereafter after Lions No 10 Jurich Claasens was also sent to spend 10 minutes on the sidelines.
The Lions were looking good to end the half in style but the match was turned on its head as lock Raynard Roets was sent off for a shoulder charge into the face of opposition flanker Oupa Mohoje.
Remarkably the Lions went from nearly scoring before the break to conceding as Mafura dived over following a swift few phases of attack from the Cheetahs. It made for an impressive first half display as they led 19-10 at the break.
MAFURA HAT-TRICK
Hooker Marko Janse van Rensburg got the Cheetahs off to the perfect start in the second when he stretched the lead after diving over in the 56th minute.
The visitors were now in full control of possession and territory and they scored their second of the half as Rudolph dived over following more impressive running from Mafura.
Pienaar was keeping the board ticking over as he stretched the Cheetahs’ lead to 33-10. The tries kept coming as flank Daniel Maartens added his name to the scoresheet with 20 minutes to play in what was turning into an all-out attack display.
Wing Daniel Kasende was another player pinged for foul play as the Cheetahs were forced back down to 14 men with 15 minutes to play. This allowed the tired home team to hit back through replacement hoooker Michael van Vuuren in the 68th minute.
It was a sign of how poorly the afternoon was going as Isaacs fluffed his conversion attempt badly to leave the scoreline at 40-15 in favour of the Bloemfontein outfit.
They weren’t done yet as they made yet another driving maul work in their favour. Unluckily, Rudolph was denied a hat-trick of tries before replacement hooker Louis van der Westhuizen dived over with a little over five minutes to play.
It was an afternoon to remember for Mafura who banked his hat-trick at the end of the contest as he danced his way through several would-be tacklers.
Scorers:
Fidelity ADT Lions – Tries:Darrien-Lane Landsberg and Michael van Vuuren. Conversions:Isaacs Vaughen. Penalty:Isaacs Vaughen. Yellow card:Jurich Claasens Red card:Raynard Roets
Toyota Cheetahs – Tries:Tapiwa Mafura (3), Jeandre Rudolph (2) , Marko Janse van Rensburg, Daniel Maartens and Louis van der Westhuizen, Conversions:Ruan Pienaar (5) and Reinhardt Fortuin. Yellow cards:Ruan Pienaar and Daniel Kasende.
Meanwhile DHL Western Province overcame a plucky NovaVit Griffons outfit to secure a bonus-point 47-28 (HT 19-14) Currie Cup Premier Division victory at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.