The Toyota Cheetahs hosted DHL Western Province in a Carling Currie Cup Round 6 fixture this afternoon. The Cheetahs with Ruan Pienaar in brilliant form convincingly beats Western Province with (38-21).
The Cheetahs proved in the first half that defence can win close games. Although Western Province dominated all the stats in the first half it was a solid Cheetahs who led 08-00 at the break.
The Cheetahs defence kept on dominating the game and although Western Province managed two tries by Evan Roos it was not good enough to secure a win. Western Province dominated territory and possession but could not convert these advantages into points.
01:00 The Cheetahs struck almost immediately as Duncan Saal score the first try of the match. Western Province was beaten by the speed of the Cheetahs attack out wide, (05-00).
20:00 Although Western Province dominated position and territory they could not convert their dominance into points.
37:39 Ruan Pienaar convert penalty for Cheetahs, (08-00)
41:57 Ruan Pienaar converted his second penalty, (11-00).
40:00 This was a physical game played at a furious pace and dominated by Western Province. The defence by the Cheetahs stopped all and any scoring opportunities Western Province had. The Cheetahs managed to put together some attacks in the last 10 minutes of the half, leading to penalties against Western Province's defence under pressure. Ruan Pienaar who was having another brilliant game for the Cheetahs used the opportunities to stretch their lead to 11-00 at the halftime break.
44:14 Evan Roos scored the first points for Western Province with a good try set up by Marcell Theunissen, (11-07)
46:13 David Brits and the Cheetahs struck back immediately after he collected a great chip kick by Clayton Blommetjies to score the Cheetahs' second try, (18-07).
48:58 Clayton Blommetjies again instrumental as he put Ruan Pienaar in a gap to score the Cheetahs third try, (25-07).
52:49 Evan Roos scored his second as he gets over for a brace of tries, (25-14).
55:55 Ruan Pienaar converted the third penalty for the Cheetahs, (28-14).
60:00 As the second half continued the game opened up a lot allowing Western Province's flyers to get more involved. The Cheetahs were still much in control with 20 minutes to go.
73:57 Ruan Pienaar converted his fourth penalty, (31-14).
77:10 Cohen Jasper score the Cheetahs bonus-point try after the Western Province could not control a bouncing ball in their own in-goal area, (38-14).
81:35 Thomas Bursey take a quick tap and scored Western Province's third try, (38-21).
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs: Tries: Duncan Saal, David Brits, Ruan Pienaar, Cohen Jasper. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (2), Chris Smit. Penalties: Ruan Pienaar (4).
Western Province: Tries: Evan Roos (2), Thomas Bursey. Conversions: Tim Swiel (2), Sacha Mngomezulu.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. Duncan Saal, 13. David Brits, 12. Siya Masuku, 11. Cohen Jasper, 10. Brandon Thomson, 9. Ruan Pienaar (C), 8. Aidon Davis, 7. Junior Pokomela, 6. Jeandre Rudolph, 5. Jean Droste, 4. Rynier Bernardo, 3. Hencus van Wyk, 2. Marnus van der Merwe, 1. Aluluthu Tshakweni. Replacements: 16. Louis van der Westhuizen, 17. Cameron Dawson, 18. Conraad van Vuuren, 19. Victor Sekekete, 20. Jacques Potgieter, 21. Zinedine Booysen, 22. Reinhardt Fortuin, 23. Chris Smit.
DHL Western Province: 15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Tristan Leyds, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Leon Lyons. Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Johan du Toit, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Sacha Mngomezulu, 23 Leolin Zas.