Currie Cup semis confirmed as Cheetahs squeeze through
MATCH REPORT: A fourth try by Vernon Paulo sealed the Cheetahs’ Currie Cup play-off spot despite going down to the Bulls by 31-35 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The result means that the Lions will host Boland in one semifinal, whilst Griquas will host the Cheetahs in Kimberley in the other semifinal.
It was a game of two halves, and by half-time it appeared that the Bulls would cruise to victory.
However, the Cheetahs showed a lot of fight during the second half to come up short by four points in the end.
*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!
The Cheetahs made a poor start by losing possession, followed by conceding a penalty.
The Bulls opted for the line-out and formed a powerful maul, but were held up over the line.
They had a penalty advantage, which the referee reverted to as they rolled the dice again. This time, they opened their account after two minutes through captain Marcell Coetzee, which Keagan Johannes converted.
The Bulls won a penalty after a powerful scrum in the eighth minute and opted for touch inside the Cheetahs’ 22 metre area.
The hosts stayed composed on attack as Johannes got his pass away to David Kriel, who found Cheswill Jooste on his wing, who dived over for the try in the 10th minute. Johannes slotted the conversion.
Things went from bad to worse for the Cheetahs when Clayton Blommetjies kicked the restart out on the full, which resulted in a Bulls penalty off the scrum, but they opted to play until advantage was called over, and they lost control of possession.
The Cheetahs scored a try after a comedy of errors by the Bulls.
Jooste scrambled back on defence after a loose ball was kicked through by the Cheetahs and lost possession before the line before Jan Carel Coetzee dotted the ball down in the 14th minute after a crucial tackle made by Marco Janse van Vuuren on the Junior Bok flyer.
The momentum swung the Cheetahs’ way after that score as back-to-back penalties got them deep into Bulls territory, off which they opted to kick to touch and take the line-out.
The Cheetahs formed a powerful maul, but the Bulls’ defence was up for it as they held their visitors up over the line to deny them the try.
The Bulls won a penalty in the Cheetahs’ red zone for the third consecutive time, and the visitors were warned to clean up their discipline.
The Bulls opted for the five-metre line-out and formed a powerful maul, which saw Mpilo Gumede power his way over the line to score the try in the 29th minute, which Johannes converted.
Blommetjies kicked the restart out on the full for the second time, which made life even tougher for his side with 30 minutes of play gone.
Things got worse as Pierre Uys got sent to the sin-bin in the 32nd minute for a tackle off the ball after the Cheetahs were warned about their discipline, and the Bulls opted for the attacking line-out, but the Cheetahs managed to steal the ball back.
The Bulls won another penalty as the Cheetahs’ discipline kept them on the back foot and opted to scrum again on the Cheetahs’ five-metre line.
The decision paid off as the Bulls’ power game proved to be too much for the Cheetahs as David Kriel picked up a quick ball and barged over for the bonus point try.
The Cheetahs won a penalty for offside seconds before the half-time hooter and opted to set the line-out inside the Bulls’ 22 metre area.
The Bulls stole possession, and Johannes kicked it into touch to bring an end to the first-half proceedings.
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Jooste grabbed a brace after a linebreak and kick ahead by Devon Williams to extend the Bulls’ lead in the 42nd minute, which Johannes converted.
Marcell Coetzee found himself in hot water for a dangerous head-on-head clash with Franco Smith whilst the flyhalf was catching a high ball.
Coetzee received a red card for the offence in the 50th minute as Smith was helped off the pitch on a medical cart.
The Cheetahs scrum got some ascendancy after bringing in their reinforcements, but they couldn’t convert their territory gains from the scrum into points.
The Cheetahs finally got onto the board in the second half after Blommetjies broke the line to set Jandre Nel up for the try, which Cohen Jasper converted.
The visitors, after a stunning counter-attacking display from their own half, saw Prince Nkabinde outsprint three Bulls defenders in the 65th minute to score the Cheetahs’ third try, which Jasper converted.
The Cheetahs won a penalty and opted for the five-metre attacking line-out.
The visitors formed a strong driving maul from the line-out and scored the bonus point try through Vernon Paulo that sealed their semifinal spot in the Currie Cup, effectively kicking the Pumas out of the running in the process. Jasper missed the conversion.
The Cheetahs had the last say in the match through a try by Pierre Uys, who got the pop pass from Nel, which Jasper converted in the 79th minute.
The visitors fought hard to steal a late win, but it was too late as the ball was lost in contact, which brought an end to proceedings.
Scorers:
For the Bulls:
Tries: Coetzee, Jooste 2, Gumede, Kriel
Cons: Johannes 5
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Coetzee, Nel 2, Nkabinde, Paulo
Cons: Jasper 3
Yellow card: Pierre Uys (Cheetahs, 32′ – Cynical play: repeated team infringements)
Red card: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls, 50′ – Dangerous play: high tackle)
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Cheswill Jooste, 13 David Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Alfonso Isaacs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Embrose Papier,8 Abri van der Westhuizen, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Jaco Grobbelaar, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Alu Tshekwani
Replacements: 16 Juann Else,17 Ruan Swart, 18 Francois Klopper,19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nama Xaba, 21 Paul de Wet,22 Harold Vorster, 23 Stedman Gans.
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Marco Janse van Vuren, 12 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Franco Smith, 9 Jandre Nel, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Pierre-Raymond Uys, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Juan Venter, 3 Frankie Dos Reis, 2 Marko Jansen van Rensburg, 1 Cameron Dawson.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Tielman Niewoudt , 18 John-Kelly Okonkwo, 19 Sisonke Vumazonke, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 Banie Britz, 23 Michael Annies.
Referee: Hanru van Rooyen
Assistant referees: Christopher Allison, Paul Mente
TMO: Ben Crouse
Image credit: @CheetahsRugby
