The Cheetahs saw off a stern test from the Sunwolves to clinch a 38-31 victory in Bloemfontein on Saturday. MARIETTE ADAMS reports.
In the corresponding fixture last year, the Cheetahs humiliated the Sunwolves 92-17. And considering the two lashings the Sunwolves received at the hands of the Hurricanes and the Kings in the opening rounds of this year’s competition, a similar outcome was expected in Bloemfontein on Saturday. In the end, the result went the way of punters, but it was a much tougher task than predicted.
While it can be described as the Sunwolves’ best 40 minutes this season, it can also be said that the first half of this encounter was the Cheetahs’ worst. The hosts’ performance improved remarkably in the second half, to ultimately lift them past the gutsy Sunwolves.
In a game with little regard for defence, unstructured attack and unstable and unreliable set-piece play, the visitors started off excellently when they retrieved possession from the kick-off and strung together multiple offloads before fullback Shota Emi burst through the defence to score a converted try within 25 seconds.
Torsten van Jaarveld’s try opened the Cheetahs account when the captain stormed over the top of the ruck to go in unopposed. Fred Zeilinga added the conversion and slotted a penalty for a three-point lead, only for the Cheetahs to sloppily concede another try.
Luckily for the Franco Smith’s men, the Sunwolves’ defence wasn’t much better and a try by Oupa Mohoje and another penalty put them 20-17 up at the interval.
The first points of the second half went the way of the Cheetahs. First Zeilinga succeeded off the kicking tee, followed by Clinton Swart’s try for a 30-17 lead. However, the resilience of the Sunwolves came to the fore again.
Winger Kenki Fukuoka struck twice as the visitors suddenly found themselves ahead by a point with less than 15 minutes remaining.
It took a yellow card offence by the Sunwolves before the Cheetahs would regain the lead. A try from Ryno Benjamin put the Cheetahs back in the ascendancy, before Zeilinga sealed the win with another penalty.
The Cheetahs will not be happy about the performance, but ultimately results count, and they did enough to win on a bad day.
Cheetahs – Tries: Torsten van Jaarsveld, Oupa Mohoje, Clinton Swart, Ryno Benjamin. Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (3). Penalties: Zeilinga (4).
Sunwolves – Tries: Shota Emi, Hayden Cripps, Kenki Fukuoka (2). Conversions: Cripps (2), Jamie-Jerry Taulagi (2). Penalty: Cripps.
Cheetahs – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Zee Mkhabela, 13 Ryno Benjamin, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (c), 1 Charles Marais.
Subs: 16 Danie Mienie, 17 Elandre Huggett, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Armandt Koster, 20 Henco Venter 21 Niel Marais, 22 Ali Mgijima, 23 Ruan van Rensburg.
Sunwolves – 15 Shota Emi, 14 Takaaki Nakazuru, 13 William Tupou, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Hayden Cripps, 9 Keisuke Uchida, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Shumei Matsuhashi, 6 Ed Quirk, 5 Uwe Hela, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Yasuo Yamaji, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Koki Yamamoto.
Subs: Atsushi Sakate, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Shokei Kin, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Jumpei Ogura, 23 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi.
Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images
