Pumas upset Cheetahs to stay in play-off race

MATCH REPORT: The Pumas kept their play-off hopes alive with a narrow 29-28 win over the Cheetahs at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

However, it could have ended in heartbreak for the visitors.

With less than a minute left on the clock, Ruan Pienaar had a chance to win it for the hosts, but his long-range penalty attempt went wide of the right-hand upright.

The win moved the Pumas into the top four with 27 points. Griquas are in third position with 31 points after their 43-41 comeback win over Western Province.

The Pumas and Griquas will face each other in a final-round clash in Nelspruit next weekend.

The Sharks are in fifth with 24 points ahead of their fixture against the Lions on Saturday. A win for the Durbanites will see them overtake the Pumas.

Meanwhile, the Cheetahs (43 points) picked up two losing bonus points and they are now four points behind log leaders the Bulls (47 points).

The first half was a real arm wrestle and the Pumas showed their grit by scoring two tries and limiting the home side to just one converted try for a half-time lead of 14-7.

It must be added that they were fortunate not to concede a second try in the opening stanza when a Cheetah try was ruled out because of a technical infringement.

Jimmy Stonehouse’s men made the perfect start when Devon Williams opened the scoring. The home side levelled matters just before the halfway mark of the first half when Louis van der Westhuizen went over for the first of his two tries, scored from a successful line-out maul, with Pienaar adding the extras with a superb angled conversion kick.

Eight minutes before the break, Pumas flyhalf Tinus de Beer collected a line-out overthrow to wrong foot several defenders on his way to scoring under the posts which Fouche easily converted to take the half-time score to 14-7 in their favour.

Williams repeated his try-scoring act shortly after the restart for the pink and grey jerseys when he won the foot-race to dot down Fouche’s clever grubber for their third try which opened up a 12-point gap. But the Cheetahs clawed their way back with a try by No.6 flank Gideon van der Merwe, who wormed his way over from a maul for a converted try to narrow the margin to 19-14.

The Lowvelders showed their grit once more by scoring a fourth converted try through hooker Eddie Swart (26-14).

However, that man Van der Westhuizen was at it again when he dived over the line for his second try of the evening and his team’s third as they stayed in the fight with the score 26-21 in favour of the visitors.

Shortly after slotting the conversion, the dependable Fouche then landed that crucial penalty goal, his first of the match, as his team opened an eight-point gap (29-21).

Right wing Daniel Kasende’s try out wide, off a lovey skip pass from Pienaar, raised the home team’s hope as their captain brought his side to within a point with his fourth conversion to take the score to 29-28 with just minutes remaining.

With almost the last kick of the match, the experienced Pienaar failed to raise the flags with his long-range penalty goal effort – which meant a crucial away win for the Pumas.

Man of the match: Tinus de Beer was excellent for the Pumas. He controlled the game nicely from the No.10 position and he scored a fantastic try as well. However, the award goes to his teammate Eduan Swart, who gave the Cheetahs plenty of problems. He was a hard man to bring down when he had the ball, and he also scored a crucial try.

The scorers:

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Van der Westhuizen 2, Van der Merwe, Kasende
Cons: Pienaar 4

For Pumas:
Tries: Williams 2, De Beer, Swart
Cons: Fouche 3
Pen: Fouche

Yellow card: Phumzile Maqondwana (Pumas, 54′ – dangerous play, high tackle)

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Chris Smit, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 George Lourensn, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Marius van der Merwe, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Marne Coetzee, 19 Ockie Barnard, 20 Mihlali Mosi, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Dawid Brits, 23 Clayton Blommetjies

Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Sebastian de Klerk, 12 Eddie Fouche, 11 Jade Stinghling, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Shane Kirkwood, 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Ignatius Prinsloo, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Simon Raw, 19 Kwanda Dimaza, 20 Andre Fouche, 21 Giovan Snyman, 22 Aliqhayiya Mgijima, 23 Diego Appollis.

Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Dylen November and Clearance Khumalo
TMO: Quinton Immelman.

Additional source: SA Rugby