The Toyota Cheetahs were made to work hard for their bonus point 20-20 draw to USAP, trailing 10-17 at the halftime break.
It was the dream start for the Perpignan visitors, USAP whose Antoine Aucagne crossed over into touch after just two minutes.
A quick response from Cheetah’s Jeandre Rudolph and Louis van der Westhuizen set the hosts on the right tracks.
But it was not long-lived, with Seta Toganiyadrava scoring for USAP on 30 minutes.
Perpignan make their own luck as they look to extend their lead. It looked like there was nothing on for the team on attack who opted for a placement kick in the corner that sits up perfectly for Job Poulet who plucks the ball out the air to catch the defence napping and sprint down the touchline for a try in the corner.
USAP led 17-10 going into the halftime break.
After a tense start to the second half, it was the South African side who found the breakthrough with a Daniel Maartens try who, thanks to an Ethan Wentzel try and penalty, had soon come back to lead 20-17.
USAP then got a penalty of their own and thanks to Antoine Aucagne keeping his cool in the final minute, the French side drew level in Amsterdam.
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs: Tries: Jeandre Rudolph, Louis van der Westhuizen, Daniel Maartens, Ethan Wentzel.
USAP: Tries: Antoine Aucagne, Seta Toganiyadrava, Job Poulet. Conversion: Antoine Aucagne. Penalty: Antoine Aucagne.
Teams:
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Michael Annies, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Prince Nkabinde, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Ruben de Haas, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (c), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Pierre-Raymond Uys, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Daniel Maartens, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 George Lourens.
USAP: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Jefferson Joseph, 13 Job Poulet, 12 Apisai Naqalevu, 11 Seta Toganiyadrava, 10 Antoine Aucagne, 9 Sadek Deghmache, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Alessandro Ortombina, 6 Noe Della Schiava, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Bastien Chinarro, 3 Nemo Roelofse, 2 Victor Montgaillard (c), 1 Lorencio Boyer-Gallardo. Replacements: 16 Vakhtang Jincharadze, 17 Johan Barcenilla D’Onghia, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 Max Hicks, 20 Lucas Velarte, 21 James Hall, 22 Gabin Kretchmann, 23 Riko Buliruarua.