Boland edge Cheetahs in epic Wellington showdown
MATCH REPORT: Wing Donavan Don scored a dramatic 88th-minute try as the Boland Cavaliers edged the Cheetahs 37-35 in their Currie Cup Round One clash in Wellington on Sunday.
It was an epic clash from start to finish and it included comebacks from both sides.
Boland dominated the first half and they went into the break leading 27-14.
However, things changed in a big way in the second half with the Cheetahs’ pack dominating play and they eventually found themselves leading 35-27 with five minutes left on the clock.
The Cavaliers never gave up in the closing stages with Marcqiewn Titus scoring a try in the 80th minute before an incredible passage of play after the restart saw Don scoring the winning five-pointer after multiple phases.
The home side also had an opportunity to go for a draw with a penalty, but they opted for a line-out which led to Don’s try.
It was an energetic start from the Cavaliers, and they found themselves 6-0 in front after 12 minutes with two penalty goals from fullback James Tedder.
With Boland dominating possession in the opening stages, the Cheetahs’ defence was eventually going to break and it did in the 16th minute when flyhalf Ashlon Davids dived over for a try.
After hardly touching the ball in the opening quarter, the Cheetahs received a gift in the 21st minute after Boland botched a line-out near their own tryline.
Boland hooker Sidney Tobias produced an overthrow and his opposite number Marco Janse van Rensburg collected the ball and scored the try.
A few minutes later, the Cheetahs were in again when scrumhalf Rewan Kruger powered his way over the tryline from close range. Cohen Jasper’s second conversion gave the Cheetahs a one-point lead.
The visitors suffered a blow in the 30th minute when flank Gideon van der Merwe was shown a yellow card for slowing the ball down.
And it didn’t take long for Boland to regain the lead after some quick passes put David Brits in for an easy try.
Boland then produced some sensational rugby from the restart, and it was all sparked from a fantastic run by Gift Dlamini.
After the loose forward made some serious metres with ball in hand, it was spread wide and flyhalf Davids ran in for his second try of the game.
The Cheetahs were a different team in the second half and the dominated possession and the set-pieces in the third quarter.
The pressure eventually paid off when replacement Carel-Jan Coetzee scored his team’s third try after the ball bounced perfectly for him after an Ethan Wentzel chip kick.
With the momentum clearly on the Cheetahs’ side, the visitors eventually regained the lead with just over 15 minutes left on clock when Van der Merwe powered over for a try from a maul before Ntokozo Makhaza landed his second conversion attempt.
The crowd was silenced in the 74th minute after Cheetahs replacement hooker Vernon Paulo scored his team’s fifth try after another powerful driving maul.
However, Boland never gave up and they got back into it when Titus scored his team’s fourth try with less than a minute on the clock after he gathered the ball from a cross-kick.
The Cheetahs also lost Vernon Paulo to the sin-bin just before the siren went.
There was enough time for the restart, with the home side delivering a courageous passage of play, which ended with Don scoring the match-winning try in the corner.
Man of the match: The award goes to Boland No.8 Sibusiso Sangweni, who was dominant in the collisions, especially with ball in hand.
The scorers:
For Boland:
Tries: Davids 2, Brits, Titus, Don
Cons: Tedder 3
Pens: Tedder 2
For Cheetahs:
Tries: Jansen van Rensburg, Kruger, Coetzee, Van der Merwe, Paulo
Cons: Jasper 2, Makhaza 3
Yellow cards: Gideon van der Merwe (Cheetahs, 30′ – cynical play, playing the ball on the ground); Vernon Paulo (Cheetahs, 80′ – foul play, no-arms tackle)
Teams:
Boland Cavaliers: 15 James Tedder, 14 Marcqiewn Titus, 13 David Brits, 12 Lunathi Nxele, 11 Donavan Don, 10 Ashlon Davids (vice-captain), 9 Chriswill September, 8 Sibusiso Sangweni, 7 Khwezi Mafu, 6 Gift Dlamini, 5 Marlyn Williams (captain), 4 Michael Benadie, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Sidney Tobias, 1 Wayrin Losper.
Replacements: 16 HP van Schoor, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Ameer Hendricks, 20 Thurlow Marsh, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Juan Mostert, 23 Xavier Mitchell.
Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Ntokozo Makhaza, 13 Marco Janse van Vuuren, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Banie Britz, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Pierre-Raymond Uys, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 3 Frankie Dos Reis, 2 Marco Janse van Rensburg, 1 Hencus van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Ben Pitout, 19 Sisonke Vumazonke, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Jandre Nel, 22 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa), Juan de Bod (South Africa)
TMO: Egon Seconds (South Africa)
