Cheetahs maul Griquas in 11-try thriller

The Cheetahs kept alive their hopes of hosting a Currie Cup semifinal when they mauled Griquas 49-39 in an 11-try thriller in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The home team – despite conceding three tries, 19 points, in the final four minutes of the match – were always too strong and skilful for a willing Griquas outfit.

Griquas were good value at stages, especially in the first 20 minutes, but the Cheetahs always managed to raise their game and in the end took a full five points from the game.

There was plenty of early enthusiasm from Griquas, but a couple of penalties – one at the tackle and one at a scrum five metres from the Cheetahs line – prevented them from turning opportunities into points.

However, a penalty, at the tackle, in the eighth minute, saw Rudi Vogt opening the scoring for Griquas.

Two minutes later Riaan Viljoen scored the opening try – picking up a stray pass, after Sarel Pretorius had broken around the fringes of a scrum but failed to find a support runner. However, the Cheetahs could not control the ball and Viljoen was onto it in a flash. Vogt added the conversion for a 10-0 lead.

Ivann Espag was penalised twice in quick succession at scrum time, the second allowing Nico Scheepers to slot the penalty for a 3-10 scoreline – the Cheetahs’ first points.

Cameron Jacobs got over for the Cheetahs’ first try in the 24th minute – coming after a penalty became a line-out and some quick phase-play by the Cheetahs left a few holes in the Griquas’ defence. Scheepers added the extras to make it 10-all.

In the second quarter the Cheetahs started to dominate possession and territory, also saw a few penalties going their way.

Nico Scheepers put the Cheetahs into the lead for the first time just two minutes before the break, when he slotted his second penalty.

And the first half ended even better for the hosts – with Pieter Labuschagne scoring the Cheetahs’ second try, coming from a move that started inside the Cheetahs’ half and with quick hands beating several Griquas defenders. Tewis de Bruyn added the conversion as the Cheetahs took a 20-10 lead into the half-time break.

There was some early reward for Griquas, with Rudi Vogt slotting a penalty to narrow the gap to 13-20.

Two minutes later Tewis de Bruyn restored the 10-point lead with a penalty after some foul play by Griquas at a maul.

It took the Cheetahs less than two minutes to score again – quick hands and great off-loading in the tackle again leaving the Griquas defenders stranded. Pieter Labuschagne got his second try, as he jogged over at the end of a great move. De Bruyn added the extras.

Going into the final quarter Leon Karemaker got a try back for Griquas – going over after some strong charges and great interplay between the forwards and backs. Vogt added the conversion to narrow the gap to 20-30.

Almost immediately the Cheetahs hit back – captain Adriaan Strauss went over for the bonus-point try. It came after quick hands from a turnover and a charge started by replacement Trevor Nyakane. De Bruyn added the conversion to make it 37-20.

Philip Burger got try number five – going over in the right corner after the captain, Strauss, barged through a huge hole in midfield – and quick recycling left holes everywhere in the Griquas defence. De Bruyn couldn’t add the extras, but at 42-20 and just over 10 minutes to go it was game over.

The Cheetahs were now running riot – Werner Griesel getting a try on debut. De Bruyn added the conversion – 49-20.

There was some late consolation for Griquas – Dusty Noble going over for the third try. Vogt could not add the extras, but it mattered little – 25-40 with four minutes left on the clock. And then Steph Roberts mauled his way over from close range, with the Vogt conversion making it 32-49 with two minutes left on the clock.

And then Sarel Pretorius finished the game off with one final flurry, his team’s fifth try. Vogt added the conversion to make it 39-49 at full-time.

Man of the match: The Griquas halfbacks – scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius and flyhalf Riaan Viljoen – did their best to spark something and at times they succeeded. However, the Cheetahs simply had too much pace and power for the willing men from Kimberley. Tewis de Bruyn showed that despite being a regular scrumhalf, he is more than a capable flyhalf – even taking over the kicking duties. There was also the Cheetahs young livewire  scrumhalf, Piet van Zyl. However, our award goes to Cheetahs flank Pieter Labuschagne – for his high work rate and impressive support play. His tries were just reward for a good day at the office.

The scorers:

For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Jacobs, Labuschagne 2, Strauss, Burger, Griesel
Cons: Scheepers, De Bruyn 4
Pens: Scheepers 2, De Bruyn

For Griquas:
Tries: Viljoen, Karemaker, Noble, Roberts, Pretorius
Cons: Vogt 3
Pens: Vogt 2

The teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Tewis de Bruyn, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Pieter Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Johan Wessels, 20 Enrico Acker, 21 Philip Burger, 22 Werner Griesel.

Griquas: 15 Rudi Vogt, 14 Dusty Noble, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Matthew Rosslee, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Riaan Viljoen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Jonathan Mokuena (captain), 5 George Earle, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Ivann Espag.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Steph Roberts, 18 Jaco Nepgen, 19 Burger Schoeman, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 Earl Rose, 22 Fabian Juries.

Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Sindile Mayende, DeGoede Haasbroek
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee