Lions rampant against hapless Cheetahs

The Golden Lions stamped their authority in style by running in 10 tries, while they were superbly marshalled by Marnitz Boshoff.

This victory makes it eight wins out of eight, and a nine point lead at the top of the log.

Boshoff contributed 23 points through 10 conversions, most of which were from the touch-line, and a penalty, but more importantly, he controlled the game immaculately with his tactical intelligence.

It was a bitter-sweet afternoon for the big Cheetahs flanker Vincent Jobo, who scored a hat-trick from driving mauls, the last of which gave the Cheetahs a consolation bonus four-try point.

Despite the heat, both teams showed they were prepared to run.

The two opening tries, one to each side, came from innovative play out wide.

First Ruan Combrinck ripped through a narrow gap to release Courtnall Skosan for a score in the corner, then two minutes later a shimmy by Cheetahs fullback Clayton Blommetjies put Sergeal Petersen through.

The difference, though, was the cohesion of the Lions against the nervous, fragmented play by the Cheetahs who had been forced to make 10 changes due to niggling injuries and the need to rest players.

Their defence suffered – which allowed Skosan another simple score after the Cheetahs ran out of numbers.

Loose tackling gave the Lions a third try when they were allowed to make hard yards down the touchline which ended when Warren Whiteley, back after a lengthy calf injury flicked a pass to Steph de Wit to score under the posts.

Boshoff was controlling the game with his boot and a penalty touch-finder five metres from the Cheetahs line set up Jaco Kriel's 17th Currie Cup try from the perfectly set driving maul.

The Cheetahs were let down by their handling, losing the ball in contact or knocking on which halted any momentum they may have generated.

Throughout the match the Cheetahs opted seven times to take penalties to the lineout and set the driving maul.

Jobo scored his first try just before halftime, and right on the whistle he was held up after another such drive.

Whiteley was sent to the sin bin after referee Rasta Rasivhenge had given them a team warning for the indiscretions whenever the Cheetahs threatened.

But the Lions are playing with such confidence and unity that they were unfazed.

Howard Mini was the beneficiary of a great break by Boshoff within a minute of the restart, and at 38-10, the Lions were disappearing over the horizon.

But still the penalties kept coming, and still the Cheetahs went for the lineout.

In the space of nine minutes, in the absence of Whiteley, Jobo added two more tries with Sias Ebersohn converting both to narrow the gap to 24-38.

Whiteley made an immediate impact on his return, diving over in the corner for the Lions sixth try.

He then put Kriel into space for his second try, bringing up the 50 points.

The Cheetahs never gave up, but they just did not have the fire-power to break down the Lions defence, which, it must be said, tested the referee's patience.

Then the gaps opened, allowing the Lions three more tries, while gifting an intercept try for Francois Venter.

Man of the match: Jaco Kriel scored two fantastic tries and was a monster on both attack and defence

Scorers:

For Free State Cheetahs:

Tries:Petersen, Jobo 3, Venter

Cons: Eberson 2, Zeilinga

For Golden Lions:

Tries: Skosan 2, De Wit, Kriel 2, Mnisi, Whiteley, Van der Walt, Smith, Volmink

Cons: Boshoff 10

Pen: Boshoff

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs:15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Zee Mkhabela, 8 Gerhard Olivier, 7 Neill Jordaan, 6 Vincent Jobo, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Freddy Ngoza, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Teunis Nieuwoudt.

Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Burrie Uys, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 De Wet Kruger, 20 Ryno Benjamin, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Fred Zeilinga.

Golden Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnal Skosan, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Steph de Wit, 6 Jaco Kriel (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.

Reserves: 16 Mark Pretorius, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Fabian Booysen, 19 Albertus Smith, 20 Jako van der Walt,  21 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 22 Anthony Volmink.

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge

Assistant referees: Sindile Ngcese, Francois Pretorius

TMO: JJ Wagner

Source: @SaRugby