The battle between the Toyota Cheetahs and a Springbok-laden Hollywoodbets Sharks continued in Bloemfontein with the Toyota Cheetahs made to work hard for a 32-29 bonus point win in Round 2 of the EPCR Challenge Cup. The Toyota Cheetahs led 15-07 at the halftime break.
Despite the Toyota Cheetahs' confident start it took them 17 minutes to score the first points of the match. The Toyota Cheetahs took a quick front ball in a lineout to send Marnus van der Merwe crashing over the Hollywoodbets tryline to open their account.
Eben Etzebeth's impact for the Hollywoodbets was evident when he crashed over from the back of a 5m lineout-maul to level the scores at 07-07.
Gideon van der Merwe crossed the whitewash for the Toyota Cheetahs after 26 minutes of play in the corner to retake the lead with 12-07. A quick tap from Ruan Pienaar led to van der Merwe bulldozing his way over Hollywoodbets Sharks tryline.
The action-packed 1st half ended with a converted penalty by Ruan Pienaar to extend the Toyota Cheetahs lead to 15-07. The Toyota Cheetahs left several points on the field and will have to be more accurate in scoring points in the second half.
The Toyota Cheetahs caught napping from the kickoff when the Hollywoodbets Sharks attacked down the touchline. Francois Venter eventually scored their second try after brilliant handling and interplay by the visitors.
A penalty converted by Ruan Pienaar for the Toyota Cheetahs was followed by a try by Hollywoodbets Sharks' Grant Williams 10 minutes later. The Hollywoodbets Sharks took a 19-18 lead after 15 minutes of play in the second half, however, their dominance grew as the second half continued.
With 20 minutes to play Curwin Bosch extended the Hollywoodbets Sharks lead to 4 points with a converted penalty.
A mistake by the Hollywoodbets Sharks at the back was hacked forward by Daniel Maartens who scored the Toyota Cheetahs 3rd try. However, not to be outdone Makazole Mapimpi replied with a try of his own to reclaim a 29-25 lead and 15 minutes to play in the second half.
With 6 minutes to play the Toyota Cheetahs' Cohen Jasper beat two defenders to put his team back into the lead with the bonuspoint try to lead 32-29.
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs: Tries: Marnus van der Merwe, Gideon van der Merwe, Daniel Maartens, Cohen Jasper. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (3). Penalties: Ruan Pienaar (2).
Hollywoodbets Sharks: Tries: Eben Etzebeth, Francois Venter, Grant Williams, Makazole Mapimpi. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2). Penalty: Curwin Bosch.
Teams:
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 George Lourens, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Cameron Dawson. Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Laurance Victor, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Ali Mgijima.
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 6 James Venter, 5 Le Roux Roets, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Daniel Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Corne Rahl, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Lionel Cronje, 23 Ethan Hooker