Emerging Ireland taught Cheetahs another lesson

MATCH REPORT: Emerging Ireland finished their tour of South Africa unbeaten, after teaching the Cheetahs another valuable lesson in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

After trailing 12-17 at half-time, the Irish visitors bounced back against a tiring home team to record a 33-24 win.

That followed their victories over the Pumas and Western Force in the past week.

Captain James Culhane spoke of how well they did to come together so quickly on this short tour.

“It was a massive success,” he said of the unbeaten trip.

A bitterly disappointed Cheetahs captain Victor Sekekete spoke of the need to take the lessons from their losses to the Force and Irish teams to heart.

“In the second half we lost the territory battle,” Sekekete said of the loss to the Irish.

“There are some positives to take from the tournament,” he added.

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Yellow card for Cheetahs lock Carl Wegner.pic.twitter.com/ya3uREY9P3

— Murray Kinsella (@Murray_Kinsella) October 9, 2024

After a competitive first half, the Emerging Ireland side had to dig deep.

The Cheetahs continued to exert pressure in the second half and held a 24-19 lead – despite being a man down.

Lock Carl Wegner was yellow-carded for a high tackle.

However, late tries from replacements Alex Soroka and Matthew Devine saw the visitors emerge victorious.

The scorers

For the Cheetahs
Tries: Hunt, Annies 2, Fourie
Cons: Wentzel 2

Emerging Ireland
Tries: O’Connell, Osborne, Soroka, Devine, Sheahan
Cons: Prendergast 2, Murphy 2

Yellow card: Carl Wegner (Cheetahs, 63 – foul play, high tackle)

Teams

Cheetahs: 15 Michael Annies, 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Munier Hartzenberg, 12 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 11 Asanda Kunene, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Friedle Olivier, 7 Siskonke Vumazonke, 6 Gideon Van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Corne Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Marco Janse van Rensburg, 17 Hencus Van Wyk, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Ulrich Stander, 20 Neels Volschenk, 21 Jandre Nel, 22 George Lourens, 23 Cohen Jasper.

Emerging Ireland: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Andrew Osborne, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 James Culhane (captain), 7 Sean Edogbo, 6 Harry Sheridan, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Stephen Smyth, 1 Alex Usanov.
Replacements: 16 Danny Sheahan, 17 George Hadden, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Charlie Tector.

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
Assistant referees: DJ Hefer and Ashton Ockhuys
TMO: Hanru van Rooyen