Cheetahs give Sharks a scare
CURRIE CUP REPORT: The Sharks avoided what would have been a shock defeat to the young Free State Cheetahs when they managed to secure a 33-29 win in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
With loads of the Cheetahs’ first choice players on Pro14 duty, the fixture was labelled as mission impossible for the young inexperienced side captained by Rudy Paige.
However, unlike last weekend’s 0-32 defeat to the Western Province at Newlands, the Cheetahs produced a much better performance made sure they break the Sharks’ defence on four occasions – including a penalty try.
In contrast, the Sharks one of the more settled Currie Cup sides failed to stamp their authority on the match.
The Durban side dominated the opening minutes but handling errors disrupted their attack and only managed to score five tries.
The Sharks had numerous opportunities going awry in the Free State 22, as well as a TMO ruling against a first try.
But they finally turned potential into action with a good build-up and some clinical interplay to send Marius Louw into space before he drew the last defender and sent Lwazi Mvovo over for the opening try of the match just shy of the quarter hour.
The next 10 minutes of the game became somewhat disjointed with Free State barely getting a sniff of the ball, but capitalising on a lineout error before taking possession into Sharks’ 22 and then scoring their opening try to draw level.
Just minutes later the home side doubled their try-scoring tally when they took advantage of turnover ball in their 22 and worked their way downfield, once more scoring against the run of play.
But with a resurgent and dominant scrum putting huge pressure on the Free State pack, Sharks once more asserted themselves in the game and two scrum penalties put them in a position from which to score with the forwards driving over and captain Chiliboy Ralepelle the man in possession to even the scores with just under 15 minutes of the first half remaining.
Free State struck back immediately with a penalty to take the lead, but were then themselves penalised for the exact same infraction of the rules – obstruction – and SHarksopted to kick the ball to touch rather than at posts and were rewarded when Wian Vosloo was this time the man at the back of the driving maul. Du Preez converted for a 19-15 half-time score.
The second half got off to a successful start with an early penalty sent to touch (the eighth such kickable penalty) and from the ensuing driving maul, Ralepelle was once more at the back to score his second and team’s fourth try.
Louis Fouche managed to elude the defence for his second try 10 minutes later and converted to return it to a four point game.
The teams hammered away at each other for the next while, intent on scoring but unable to before a patient build-up was rewarded when Cameron Wright flicked the ball back to a marauding Daniel du Preez who cantered in under the posts for an easy conversion, establishingan 11 point lead with 10 minutes of the game remaining.
With two minutes to go, Sharks conceded the duel ignominy of a penalty try and a yellow card for a driving maul that was pulled down and we once again had a tenuous four point cushion, but ultimately the home side had left matters too late and could not recover in time to take the spoils.
Man of the match: It was a very spirited performance from the Cheetahs, the hero in the losing side was Louis Fouche, who scored two tries and added two conversions and penalty with the boot. The Sharks’ pack produced a solid performance as they dominated the scrums and contested the breakdown, the man who stood out was Daniel du Preez. However, our nod goes to Sharks captain Chiliboy Ralepelle, who was a constant menace up front.
The scorers:
For FS Cheetahs
Tries: Fouche 2, Greeff, Penalty try
Cons: Fouche 2, penalty try does not require a conversion
Pen: Fouche
For Sharks
Tries: Mvovo, Ralepelle 2, Vosloo, D Du Preez
Cons: Du Preez 4
Yellow card: Khutha Mchunu (Sharks, 77 – Collapsing the maul)
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Adriaan Carelse, 14 Ali Mgijima, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Lloyd Greeff, 10 Louis Fouche, 9 Rudy Paige (captain), 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Gerhard Olivier, 6 Stephan Malan, 5 Dennis Visser, 4 Louis Conradie, 3 Gunther Janse van Vuuren, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Kevin Stevens.
Replacements: 16 Jannes Snyman, 17 Johan Kotze, 18 Luigi van Jaarsveld, 19 Abongile Nonkontwana, 20 Dian Badenhorst, 21 Vuyani Maqina, 22 Reinhart Erwee.
Sharks: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Wian Vosloo, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 John-Hubert Meyer, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle (captain), 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Khutha Mchunu, 18 Andrew Evans, 19 Luke Stringer, 20 Cameron Wright, 21 Johan Deysel, 22 Aphelele Fassi.
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Divan Uys
TMO: Lourens van der Merwe
