Blues beat Cheetahs in card games
PRO14 REPORT: Cardiff Blues ended their four-game losing streak, after tries in either half from Aled Summerhill and Josh Turnbull secured a 30-17 victory over the Cheetahs.
It was a game marked by many cards – two yellow to the Blues, with the Cheetahs being slapped with a red card and a yellow.
They played more than an hour of the match down a man, after No.8 Jasper Wiese was red-carded in the 14th minute.
A couple of Jason Tovey penalties, along with 14 points from the boot of Jarrod Evans, proved enough to give the Welsh outfit a confidence-boosting triumph against the Cheetahs.
The South African side scored tries through Rhyno Smith and Clayton Blommetjies, with Ruan Pienaar adding two conversions and a penalty, but it was not enough for the visitors.
Quick thinking from Pienaar 🧠
Slicing line from Volmink ⚡️
Finish from @rhynosmith15 👌@cheetahsrugby are a man down but lighting it up 😍#GuinnessPRO14 #CBLvCHE
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🇿🇦 Watch Live Now on @SuperSportTV pic.twitter.com/vkb4X0IYuJ— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) November 9, 2019
Key moments
John Mulvihill’s men were in desperate need of a win in south Wales following consecutive defeats to Munster, Ulster, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh.
And they got off to a dream start when Tovey slotted a penalty inside five minutes to give his side an early lead after the Cheetahs infringed at the breakdown.
Harri Millard then surged through the South African defence after being fed by Matthew Morgan before offloading to Summerhill, who crossed the whitewash for the first try.
Tovey was unable to add the extras but the Blues were soon given a further boost when Jasper Wiese was shown red for dangerous play (shoulder charge to the head) to reduce Cheetahs to 14 men.
Tovey slotted the resulting penalty to open up an 11-point advantage before the Cheetahs hit back through Smith, with Pienaar converting to close the gap to four.
Blommetjies then silenced the Arms Park faithful on the half-hour with Cheetahs’ second try after Junior Pokomela launched a devastating counter-attack, with Pienaar on target again.
Tovey was forced off just before the break and Evans was on target with his first two efforts at goal, kicking the Blues into a narrow 17-14 lead at the interval.
And with Gerhard Olivier starting the second half on the bench after a late yellow card, the hosts continued to build on their advantage when Turnbull dotted down.
Evans converted to put the Blues 24-14 ahead before Pienaar responded with a kick of his own on 50 minutes to keep the visitors in touch going into the final half an hour.
But Evans continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over with two more penalties and despite late yellow cards for him and Keiron Assiratti, the Blues held on for victory.
Man of the match
There were plenty of important contributions across the pitch for the hosts but none more so than that of Jarrod Evans – who kept his composure under pressure.
Tovey’s early exit could have derailed Mulvihill’s side after a bright start, especially with the Cheetahs fighting back from 11-0 down to take a 14-11 lead.
But Evans switched from inside centre to ten seamlessly and his two kicks at the end of the first half ensured the hosts regained their lead going into the half-time interval.
He continued to impress after the break with a conversion and two more penalties, while his all-round play gave the Blues fans plenty to smile about.
The scorers
For the Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Summerhill, Turnbull
Con: Evans
Pens: Tovey 2, Evans 4
For the Cheetahs”
Tries: Smith, Blommetjies
Cons: Pienaar 2
Pen: Pienaar
Yellow cards: Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Blues, 70), Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues, 80) , Gerhard Olivier (Cheetahs, 39)
Red card: Jasper Wiese (Cheetahs, 14)
Teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Harri Millard, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Jarrod Evans, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Lloyd Williams (captain), 8 Nick Williams, 7 Will Boyde, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Corey Domachowski.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Willis Halaholo, 23 Jason Harries.
Cheetahs: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Luan de Bruin.
Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Sias Koen, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Louis Fouche.
Referee: Ben Blain (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Source: @PRO14Official
