AUDIO: Multiple injuries early on thwarted Cheetahs' efforts

REACTION: The Cheetahs became desperate after a barrage of injuries in the first half stunted their fight against Cardiff as they were downed 10-26 on Saturday night.

The Free Staters lost three of their stars in the first 20 minutes as first centre Ali Mgijima went down, followed by Gideon van der Merwe and Oupa Mohojo.

Mgijima sustained a concussion following a high-impact tackle while it looks like Mohoje suffered a broken collarbone and flanker Van der Merwe went off on a stretcher due to a leg injury.

Cheetahs coach Izak van der Westhuizen says the bench had to be introduced much earlier than was planned and this made his team, still littered with youngsters, desperate in an attempt to secure possession.

The Cheetahs started the game like a house on fire, and camped out in Cardiff’s 22 for long periods, but could not convert these entries into points.

The hosts’ defence stood firm and when Friedl Olivier eventually managed to cross the whitewash, he was held up. It was as if nothing the Cheetahs tried, resulted in points.

Article continues below…

“We had a good first half. We just failed to convert all the opportunities we created into points,” Van der Westhuizen commented after the game.

“We had a lot of bad luck with injuries early on in the first half which forced us to play a lot of our guys off the bench earlier than we wanted to,” he explained.

The Cheetahs were still leading 10-5 at the break but Cardiff took control early in the second half as they used their speedsters out wide to score three tries. A penalty try late in the game was the final nail in the coffin for the visitors.

“In the second half, we just gave away too many penalties because we became desperate to get the ball back at times.

“Because we had to play our guys early in the first half, we didn’t have that much power off the bench in the second half.

“But I think there was a massive effort from everyone that played, I think the guys tried hard,” the coach added.

He explained that a lack of constant competition at this level also affected the Cheetahs

“You can just see the difference between teams that play week in and week out at this level. We still have a lot to learn.

“Our side has many young players, so hopefully, they will learn from this, and we will be better for it in the next games.”

The Cheetahs’ next match is on 12 January against Zebre at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands.