By Ross Roche.
The Cheetahs broke a three-game run without a win by clinching a 29-14 bonus-point victory over the Pumas in their Currie Cup clash at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday night.
The result saw the Cheetahs move back top of the log, albeit briefly with the Sharks playing the Lions in the 7pm game, but importantly secured a home semifinal ahead of the final weekend of pool-stage action.
The Cheetahs had gone into the game off two losses and a draw against the Griquas last weekend, so were looking for a positive result to get them back on track, which they managed thanks to a solid performance against the Pumas.
The hosts got off to a good start in the match, putting the visitors under early pressure in their 22m which ended with a lineout on the 5m.
The Pumas then set up a rumbling maul which was stopped just short, before hooker Corne Fourie broke off and powered over to score, with flyhalf Tinus de Beer adding the extras for a 7-0 lead after six minutes.
The Cheetahs hit back 10 minutes later as from their own maul they drove over, with flank Gideon van der Merwe dotting down the five pointer.
The dominance at the lineout continued as the Cheetahs scored two tries in four minutes from lineouts in the Pumas 22m.
First a lineout move saw the ball popped back to hooker Marnus van der Merwe who ran down the line and passed inside to scrumhalf Rewan Kruger to dive over, with Ruan Pienaar adding the conversion.
The Cheetahs then rumbled their third over as they set a massive maul just inside the 22m and powered it all of 20m for Van Der Merwe to dot down over the line, with Pienaar’s conversion giving them a 19-7 lead after 27 minutes.
The visitors took that solid lead into the halftime break, before a scoreless first 22 minutes of the second half was broken by a Pienaar penalty which pushed the Cheetahs further ahead.
But two minutes later the Pumas were back in the match as a ball kicked ahead into the Cheetahs 22m was attempted to be picked up by wing Cohen Jasper, only for him to lose the ball and then play it off his feet as his opposite wing Andrew Kota tried to grab the ball.
The ref went to the TMO and they ruled that had Jasper left the ball, Kota would likely have picked it up and scored, leading to a penalty try and a yellow to Jasper, making the score 22-14.
It was a desperate final 15 minutes for the Pumas as they mounted a number of attacks in the Cheetahs 22m, but the visitors defended brilliantly before setting up a late lineout in the hosts 22m which ended with replacement loose forward George Cronje scoring to clinch the bonus point.
SCORES:
Pumas: Tries- Corne Fourie, Penalty Try;Conversion – Tinus de Beer
Cheetahs: Tries – Gideon van der Merwe, Rewan Kruger, Marnus van der Merwe, George Cronje; Conversions – Ruan Pienaar (3); Penalty – Pienaar.
Meanwhile, it was neck-and-neck until the second-half as the Sharks dumped the Lions out of the Currie Cup. In Durban, the Sharks’ performance in the second stanza saw them win 29-21 and move to the top of the log.