The Toyota Cheetahs make history when they took on Baie Mare for the first time tonight in the Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein. After being initially made to work hard the Cheetahs cruised home with 54-05 after they scored 42 unanswered points in the second half.
Nobody expected that Baia Mare will not only match the Cheetahs upfront, but their defence made life extremely difficult for their hosts for most of the first half. During the last 10m of the first half, the gaps started to open up with the Cheetahs' flyers doing their best with the quality possession at their disposal.
The Cheetahs started to play a more structured game plan in the second half which cut down a lot on the errors made by the home side. Baia Mare started to struggle to plug all the holes in their defence as they were 14 men for most of the second half.
03:24 Kefentse Mahlo showed early in this match Baia Mare's intention when he finished off in style down the tryline to open the scoring with a great try (00-05).
19:47 Lohan Potgieter scored the Cheetahs 1st try from a ball to the #1 in their lineout after which Potgieter went over after good interplay by Cheetahs (07-05).
20:00 Baia Mare who played "correct" rugby supported by the grunt upfront minimised their mistakes to force errors from the Cheetahs. Baie Mare was the better team for the first quarter.
38:06 Gideon vd Merwe forced his way over the Baia Mare tryline. With halftime looming the gaps are starting to open up for a more than capable Cheetahs (12-05).
40:00 Baia Mare are still applying the pressure on the Cheetahs, however, the gaps are starting to open up with the Cheetahs' flyers doing their best with the quality possession at their disposal. The halftime score definitely flattered the Cheetahs.
46:06 Some enterprising play by the Cheetahs combined with a kind bounce of the ball allowed Evardi Boshoff to stroll over for the Cheetahs' 3rd try (19-05).
53:28 Try number 4 by Louis van der Westhuizen who scored from the back of a 5m lineout-maul (26-05).
60:00 The Cheetahs started to play a more structured game plan in the second half which cut down a lot on the errors made by the home side. Baia Mare started to struggle to plug all the holes in their defence.
60:57 Penalty try with Baia Mare scrumhalf Vlad Bocanet who was sent of with a yellow card.
64:49 Marnus van der Merwe scored from the back of a Cheetah 5m lineout-maul (40-05).
74:38 Great interplay by the Cheetahs from within their own half saw Siya Masuku crossing Baia Mare's try line (47-05).
80:53 Victor Sekekete finished off the game in style as he score the Cheetahs' 8th try (54-05)
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs: Tries: Lohan Potgieter, Gideon vd Merwe, Evardi Boshoff, Louis van der Westhuizen, penalty try, Marnus van der Merwe, Siya Masuku, Victor Sekekete. Conversions: Brandon Thompson (2), Siya Masuku (4).
Baia Mare: Try: Kefentse Mahlo.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15. Cohen Jasper, 14. Evardi Boshoff, 13. David Brits, 12. Howard Mnisi, 11. Craig Barry, 10. Brandon Thomson, 9. Tian Meyer, 8. Aidon Davis, 7. Lohan Potgieter, 6. Gideon van der Merwe, 5. Victor Sekekete, 4. Rynier Bernardo, 3. Hanro Jacobs, 2. Louis van der Westhuizen, 1. Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: 16. Marnus van der Merwe, 17. Alulutho Tshakweni, 18. Marne Coetzee, 19. Oupa Mohoje, 20. Celimpilo Gumede, 21. Rewan Kruger, 22. Siya Masuku, 23. Robert Ebersohn.
CSM Baia Mare: 15. Paul Popoaia, 14. Adrian Apostol, 13. Jason Tomane, 12. David Feliuai, 11. Kefentse Mahlo, 10. Helarius Kisting, 9. Vlad Bocanet, 8. Aleandru Alexe, 7. Dumani Mtya, 6. Florian Rosu, 5. Stefan Iancu, 4. Mate Dardzulidze, 3. Revazi Dugladze, 2. Ovidiu Cojocaru (c), 1. Constantin Pritavita. Replacements: 16. Adrian Tala, 17. Mihai Dico, 18. Omar Baliashvili, 19. Marius Danila, 20. Alexandru Bucur, 21. Mihai Lamboiu, 22. Alexandru Tigla, 23, Alexandre Kalmakhelidze.