Cheetahs to rattle the Shark cage
The Sharks’ victory over the Lions on Saturday night put an end to the Cheetahs’ hopes of playing a Currie Cup rugby semifinal at home, but coach Naka Drotské will be satisfied with his team’s win over Griquas.
The Cheetahs finished third on the log on 47 points, one behind the Sharks who will host the Free State side in their Durban semifinal next week.
The Men from Kimberley put in some big hits on defence to counter the attacking play by the home side but despite the physical nature of the match both sides came away with only one serious injury each.
Cheetahs’ lock Francois Uys left the field nursing a rib injury and may not be available for the semifinal, while Griquas’ centre Matt Rosslee tore a medial ligament (knee) and his future is still uncertain.
“Francois will only be able to practice on Thursday so there is a good chance he won’t be available, but it looks like Johan [Goosen] and Sias [Ebersohn] will be able to play,” said Drotské.
“The same goes for wingers Rayno Benjamin and Riaan Smit. But Philip Snyman would definitely miss out on the semifinal,” he said.
The availability of both Goosen and Ebersohn will be a major relief for the Cheetahs who had to play Tewis de Bruyn at flyhalf for the high-scoring clash with their central rivals.
Griquas coach Abre Minnie said his team conceded too many penalties come scrum-time and did not look after their line-out possession, which was worrying.
“You simply can’t be effective on defence if you cannot secure that first phase possession,” he said.
“The Cheetahs are well known for their attacking mauls and the penalties they received put us under huge pressure from the line-outs trying to counter their attacks.”
Riaan Viljoen and Sarel Pretorius turned in good performances – both in their last games for Griquas, but in the end it just was not enough to counter a motivated Free State side.
“Guys like Sarel and Riaan aren’t a dime a dozen. They left their imprints on Griquas and those will never be erased.
“They desperately wanted to give the team a going away present, but in the end it just wasn’t on the cards,” said Minnie.
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