Cheetahs upset 'superstar' Sharks

The Cheetahs showed that big names mean little as they recorded a 35-29 win over the Sharks in their opening round Super Rugby match in Durban on Saturday.

Outscoring the home team by four tries to two, the Cheetahs showed the loss of several star players have not robbed them of the true value of their game – high-tempo, energetic and entertaining play.

The Sharks, with 11 Springboks and two former England internationals in their line-up, looked out of sorts till late in the second half when they launched a force and determined effort – clawing back from 15 points down and coming within millimetres of claiming a late winner.

However, of bigger concern will be the growing number of injured Springboks – with Cheetahs lock Lodewyk de Jager leaving the field with a suspected fractured collarbone and Sharks prop Tendai Mtawarira limping off with a leg injury.

The Sharks, with an experimental style of attacking play and many promises of a more expansive game, were not able to hold out the Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs stuck to their usual attacking game that has seen them knock over some bigger teams in years gone by, but this time their defence was sound as they held out the Sharks on their line for over 22 phases near the death.

The first points in the game came after some exciting interplay between the Cheetahs and a Sharks team that seemed to have revived its attacking flair, Pat Lambie, as the captain for the day, put the first points on the board with a penalty that slid through the uprights.

More worrying for the Cheetahs than the three points was the injury to Springbok lock Lodewyk de Jager who limped off with his arm in a make-shift sling in the lead up to that penalty kick.

It may have been a big loss but the Cheetahs were not ready to lie down striking back with a fantastic try by Jean Cook.

Sarel Pretorius sucked in a number of defenders with a pass behind his back to Torsten van Jaarsveld who had the presence of mind of pop it off to Coenie Oosthuizen who surged forward to put the Sharks on the back foot.

From there it was a simple matter for Willie Le Roux to shift it out wide for Jean Cook sitting on the wing to slide over untouched.

Joe Pietersen converted well for his first points in a Cheetahs jersey.

Lambie soon made it a one point game after the Cheetahs were pinned for a penalty at maul-time halfway through the first half.

Pietersen then added a penalty to his burgeoning Cheetahs career to push out the lead back to four points.

However it was a fantastic set piece move that lead to the first try of the game as Lubabalo Mtembu broke from the back of a scrum.

Mtembu then threw a dummy that sold Jean Cook, although there may be a case of obstruction from the referee, and gave a great offload to Cobus Reinach who played Pat Lambie in for a try under the posts.

The Sharks glory did not last long as Kyle Cooper, of all people, attempted a clearance kick that fed Willie Britz to run into the broken play, his pass then sent Pretorius on a jinking run until the scrumhalf offloaded to Francois Venter to stroll in for a try.

A penalty each before half-time kept the Cheetahs in a four point lead as the visitors went into the shed 20-16 ahead.

The second half was a different affair as the game tightened up and kicking became key.

Pietersen got the first points with a penalty early on, but the Sharks slowly clawed their way back with two well taken Lambie penalties that made it a one-point game with 20 minutes remaining.

Finally the wall broke as Johannes Prinsloo got a try for the Cheetahs with basically his first touch of the game.

The Cheetahs took a five-metre line-out, turning down a kickable penalty, which formed into a great drive that got the replacements over the line.

The Cheetahs then went on to pick up their bonus-point try with some hard worked from the forwards.

The pressure allowed Sarel Pretorius to snipe near the line and offload to early replacement Carl Wegner who dived in under the posts.

The Sharks were not ready to admit defeat with only six minutes remaining as Lwazi Mvovo got over in the corner.

The Sharks, from their own 22, worked hard to keep the ball alive as almost every Sharks player was involved in getting the ball to Mvovo on the wing for a fantastic score – Lambie completed the conversion to make it a six point game.

Late drama ensued as it looked as if Marcell Coetzee had dotted down for the try.

The Sharks worked through 22 phases before being awarded a penalty which SP Marais took quickly, he got close but it fell to Coetzee who reached for the line.

The referee asked the TMO to look for a knock on, and after some deliberate consideration the ball was deemed to be lost forward.

The Sharks had a penalty advantage but in the one minute that remained they were unable to get all important try as the Cheetahs held on for a famous victory.

Man of the match: Cobus Reinach looked to epitomize the Sharks new attacking style while Pieter-Steph du Toit was huge in the set pieces. For the Cheetahs, Johannes Prinsloo made an instant impact when he came on for Teboho Mohoje but in the end it was super Sarel Pretorius that deserves the award for his parts in setting up the tries.

The scorers:

For the Sharks:

Tries: Lambie. Mvovo

Cons: Lambie 2

Pens: Lambie 5

For the Cheetahs:

Tries: Cook, Venter, Prinsloo, Wegner

Cons: Pietersen 2, Du Plessis

Pens: Pietersen 3

Teams:

Sharks: 15 SP Marais, 14 Sibusiso Sithole, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Heimar Williams, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu, 7 Renaldo Bothma, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 Marco Wentzel, 20 Jean Deysel, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Fred Zeilinga, 23 Odwa Ndungane.

Cheetahs: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Jean Cook, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Danie Minnie.

Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 BG Uys, 18 Nicolaas van Dyk, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Johannes Prinsloo, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Willie du Plessis, 23 Cornal Hendricks.

Referee: Andrew Lees (Australia)

Assistant referees: Rohan Hoffmann (Australia), Archie Sehlako (South Africa)

TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

By Darryn Pollock

@DarrynJack365

@rugby365com