Ill-disciplined Cheetahs hang on for the win over WP

MATCH REPORT: An ill-disciplined Cheetahs side managed to hang on for a 31-24 victory over a spirited Western Province team in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The Cheetahs, who led 31-10 after 56 minutes, looked set for a comfortable bonus-point win but were reduced to 13 men in the closing stages after conceding a flurry of penalties.

Province stormed back into the contest and threatened to snatch a dramatic draw, but crucial lineout steals and desperate defending allowed the home side to cling on.

The hosts struck first when Cohen Jasper showed his pace down the touchline to score in the ninth minute after the Cheetahs exposed Province’s defensive gaps from a drop-out.

WP responded through a Jurie Matthee penalty, but moments later the Cheetahs were in again as Mihlali Mosi pounced on a grubber kick to crash over for a 12-3 lead.

Despite looking sharp with ball in hand, WP’s unforced errors and inability to keep hold of possession when attacking repeatedly cost them, with many of their visits into the Cheetahs’ 22m area going unrewarded.

Momentum seemingly swung when centre Marco Janse van Vuren was shown a yellow card for disrupting the WP attack in attempting the intercept.

With the home side reduced to 14 men, the blue and white hoops hit back just before half-time, with Damian Markus producing a brilliant offload to break the line, freeing Shilton van Wyk to sprint in for a try that narrowed the deficit to just two points at the break at 12-10.

The second half initially belonged to the Cheetahs. Banie Britz finished in the corner after a quick tap penalty soon after the restart, before Juan Venter, who repeatedly disrupted the WP at lineout time, added another after some questionable, juggling passes to stretch the score to 24-10.

Neels Volschenk then finished off a sweeping counter-attack that went the length of the field, seemingly putting the game beyond WP’s reach at 31-10 with just over 20 minutes to play.

But the Cheetahs’ discipline imploded. Repeated infringements cost them territory and possession, and a Tristan Leyds skip pass saw Jared Africa cross the line in the 65th minute.

Just six minutes later, Enos Ndiao powered over from a maul to cut the deficit to seven points at 31-24 and set up a frantic finish.

With time ticking away, the Cheetahs lost two more men to the sin bin. Janse van Vuren was shown a second yellow for another attempted intercept, and with penalties mounting, replacement hooker Marko Janse van Rensburg was also sent to the sin bin.

The game looked to have flipped on its head when Ezekiel Ngobeni produced a dazzling solo try from midfield in the 74th minute, only for the TMO to rule it out for a knock-on in the build-up.

Still, WP pressed hard against a Cheetahs side reduced to 13 men, but the hosts clung on with Venter again stealing a crucial lineout on full time to close out the contest.

Man of the match: Cohen Jasper deserves praise for his impressive attacking display, and Ezekiel Ngobeni was impressive in his short stint off the bench even though his solo effort was ruled out. But my award would have to go to Cheetahs lock Juan Venter. While he did score a try, his biggest impact on the game was his ability to disrupt the WP’s lineout ball – he made five lineout steals in the match!

The scorers:

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Jasper, Mosi, Brits, Venter, Volschenk
Cons: Jasper 3

For Western Province:
Tries: Van Wyk, Africa, Ndiao
Cons: Matthee, Leyds 2
Pen: Matthee

Yellow cards: Marco Janse van Vuren (Cheetahs, 32 – attempted intercept), Marco Janse van Vuren (Cheetahs, 72 – attempted intercept [second yellow]), Marko Janse van Rensburg (Cheetahs, 74 – repeated infringements, offside)

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 James Verity-Amm, 14 Banie Britz, 13 Marco Janse van Vuren, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Franco Smith, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 7 Mihlali Mosi, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Juan Venter, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Hencus van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Vuren, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Frankie Dos Reis, 19 Thabang Mahlase, 20 Sasko Ndlovu, 21 Jandre Nel, 22 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.

Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Shilton van Wyk, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Joel Leotlela, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Asad Moos, 8 Louw Nel, 7 Riley Norton, 6 Gideon van Wyk, 5 Gary Porter (captain), 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.
Replacements: 16 Luca Bakkes, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Adam de Waal, 20 Enos Ndiao, 21 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 22 Luke Burger, 23 Jared Africa.

Referee: Stephan Geldenhuys
Assistant Referees: Sean Muller, Daniel Canhenga
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni