Cheetahs hold on to secure victory following stunning Bulls comeback

MATCH REPORT: The Cheetahs will breathe a sigh of relief as they saw off a spirited Bulls XV team by 62-52 points, who produced a late surge in Round Five of the Currie Cup at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.

The Bulls looked to be dead and buried, being 17-47 down at halftime but fought hard to get within seven points until the final minute of the contest, which they’ll take a lot of heart from heading into their north-south derby against the Stormers XXIII next weekend.

The Cheetahs move to second place on the Currie Cup table, joint on competition points with Griquas (21), with the defending champions having a superior points difference.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

The Cheetahs got off to the perfect start against the run of play as Michael Annies put the ball to boot and regathered to dot down in the second minute. Jaco van der Walt added the extras.

The Bulls responded through Riyaad Bam, who crossed the whitewash five minutes later following a long pass from Devon Williams from set-piece.

Ewan Kruger nailed a 50/22 kick to set an attacking line-out which led to Zander Du Plessis powering over the line from close range. Van der Walt’s conversion made it a nine-point game after 14 minutes of play.

The Cheetahs turned up the tempo and crossed for their third try two minutes later through Prince Nkabinde with the Bulls slipping tackles left, right and centre. Van der Walt split the uprights with the conversion kick.

The Bulls responded in the 19th minute through Siphosethu Mnebelele by means of a rolling maul try. Keagan Johannes slotted his first kick of the afternoon to reduce the deficit to nine points.

Annies bagged a brace in the 23rd minute after collecting an offload in the tackle from Du Plessis for the bonus-point try. Van der Walt kept his flawless kicking to the posts with the conversion.

The Bulls responded once more with a third rolling maul try as Kebotile Maake crossed the line in the 27th minute.

The see-saw battle continued with Nkabinde grabbing a brace of his own in the 30th minute to extend his side’s lead before captain Neels Volschenk dotted down three minutes later for his side’s sixth try of the afternoon.

Cohen Jasper had the final say in the first half to dot down in the corner following a counterattack play by the visitors. Van der Walt’s conversion made it 47-17 to the visitors heading into the sheds.

Continues below…

The Cheetahs continued their rampant form in the second half when Du Plessis kicked a loose ball ahead on penalty advantage as Jasper gathered a favourable bounce inside the in-goal area to dot down and bring up the half-century on the scoreboard.

The visitors were in once more when Victor Sekekete crossed the line from a line-out variation after 52 minutes of play.

The Bulls scored their bonus-point try through replacement Marnus Rademeyer in the 55th minute as Johannes added the extras, and then the comeback started.

The hosts were in again when Brooklyn Newman went over for their fifth try of the afternoon following a linebreak from Williams to set the replacement scrumhalf up in the 61st minute.

The Cheetahs went down to 14 players following a yellow card to Marko Janse van Rensburg for a dangerous tackle in the 66th minute, which was later upgraded to a 20-minute red card.

They subsequently went down to 13 players when Annies had his match cut short due to a yellow card for repeated team infringements in the 73rd minute.

The Bulls made use of the numerical advantage seconds later when Nizaam Carr crossed the whitewash for his side’s sixth try before Williams went over three minutes later for another one.

The hosts were in again moments later after attacking from their own half as Newman chipped the ball ahead to set Rademeyer up for a brace. Johannes’ conversion made it a seven-point game.

The Bulls gave it one last shot to secure a late draw but conceded a penalty whilst on attack, much to the relief of the visitors.

Tiaan Swanepoel lined up the penalty kick and slotted it to bring a close to the match and deny the Bulls a second log point in the process.

Scorers:

For the Bulls:
Tries: Bam, Mnebelele, Maake, Rademeyer 2, Newman, Carr, Williams
Cons: Johannes 5, Newman

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Annies 2, Du Plesis, Nkabinde 2, Volschenk, Jasper 2, Sekekete
Cons: Van der Walt 7
Pen: Swanepoel

Twenty-minute red card: Marko Janse van Rensburg (Cheetahs, 66′ – Dangerous play – high tackle)
Yellow card: Michael Annies (Cheetahs, 73′ – Repeated team infringements: off feet at the breakdown)

Teams:

Bulls XV: 15 Aka Boqwana, 14 Riyaad Bam, 13 Demitre Erasmus, 12 Christiaan Vlok, 11 JJ Mothlodi, 10 Devon Williams, 9 Keagan Johannes (captain), 8 Dieter Schubert, 7 JJ Theron, 6 Kebotile Maake, 5 Sintu Manjezi, 4 Johnathan Eloff, 3 Jean Erasmus, 2 Siphosethu Mnebelele, 1 Dylan Smith.
Replacements: 16 Jon Hobson, 17 Sandi Msengana, 18 Dian Coetzee, 19 Cephas van Biljon, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Mpilo Gumede, 22 Brooklyn Newman, 23 Marnus Rademeyer.

Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Jooste Nel, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Simon Miller, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Arno van der Merwe, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Juan Smal, 1 Tebogo Nkosi
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Tielman Niewoudt, 18 John-Kelly Okonkwo, 19 Curtly Thomas, 20 Sisonke Vumasonke, 21 Jandre Nel, 22 Tiaan Swanepoel, 23 De-An Ackermann

Referee: Jonathan Lottering
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen, Juan de Bod
TMO: Egon Seconds