The Toyota Cheetahs battled it out against the Tafel Lager Griquas to keep their playoff dreams alive. A bonus-point win with 33-32 for the Cheetahs was exactly what was needed.
A game of two halves. The Cheetahs dominated the 1st and 4th quarters while Griquas were in charge during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. A desperate Toyota Cheetahs, trialling with 13 points, threw everything at the Griquas during the second half but could only secure the 1 point win with eleven minutes to go.
02:59 David Brits scored early as the Cheetahs dominated from the kick-off (05-00).
06:48 George Whitehead converted a penalty for Griquas (05-03).
09:21 Craig Barry score the Cheetahs second try. The Cheetahs going for the corner after a penalty and were rewarded twice (12-03).
15:20 George Whitehead scored a brilliant try with a great pass from Stefan Ungerer that set him on his way for the Griquas' 1st try (12-10).
17:49 Marnus vd Merwe pounced on the ball after Griquas could not control a ball from their own lineout (19-10).
20:00 During the first quarter of this match both sides were willing to run the ball from anywhere on the field. The momentum is slightly in favour of the Cheetahs at that stage.
20:41 Chris Hollis scored Griquas' second try after they exposed forwards in the defensive line of the Cheetahs (19:15).
26:03 James Verity-Amm collected a loose pass by the Cheetahs to score a long-distance try and put the Griquas in the lead for the first time of the match (19-22).
37:36 Hanru Sirgel cuts through the backline defence of the Cheetahs to score Griquas' 4th and bonus-point try (19-29).
40-00 Tafel Lager Griquas took control in the second quarter and scored two tries after beating the heavy forwards in the defensive lines of the Cheetahs. However, although Griquas lead with 10 points the Cheetahs are still very much in the game.
60:00 The momentum is with the Cheetahs, however brilliant defence by Griquas kept them from scoring and the Griquas seemingly on their way to winning this one.
63:41 George Whitehead converted his second penalty (19-32).
64:14 Conraad v Vuuren scored the Cheetahs bonus-point try after the Griquas could not control the kick-off (26-32).
68:28 Junior Pokemela stormed over several defenders to score his first try. The momentum is now squarely with the Cheetahs (33-32).
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs: Tries: David Brits, Craig Barry, Marnus vd Merwe, Conraad v Vuuren, Junior Pokemela. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (4).
Tafel Lager Griquas: Tries: George Whitehead, Chris Hollis, James Verity-Amm, Hanru Sirgel. Conversion: George Whitehead (3). Penalty: George Whitehead (2).
Toyota Cheetahs: 15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. Craig Barry, 13. David Brits, 12. Siya Masuku, 11. Malcolm Jaer, 10. Reinhardt Fortuin, 9. Ruan Pienaar (C), 8. Aidon Davis, 7. Junior Pokomela, 6. Andisa Ntsila, 5. Jean Droste, 4. Victor Sekekete, 3. Aranos Coetzee, 2. Marnus van der Merwe, 1. Cameron Dawson. Replacements: 16. Louis van der Westhuizen, 17. AluluthoTshakweni, 18. Conraad van Vuuren, 19. Rynier Bernardo, 20. Reinier Viljoen, 21. Mihlali Mosi, 22. Tian Meyer, 23. Chris Smit.
Tafel Lager Griquas: 15. Ashlon Davids, 14. Eduan Keyter, 13. Chris Hollis, 12. Jonathan Francke, 11. James Verity-Amm, 10. George Whitehead, 9. Stefan Ungerer, 8. Ruan Steenkamp ©, 7. Hanru Sirgel, 6. Gideon vd Merwe, 5. Stefan Willemse, 4. Adre Smith, 3. Erich de Jager, 2. Alandre van Rooyen, 1. Mox Mxoli. Replacements: 16. Janco Uys, 17. Andrew Beerwinkel, 18. Andries Schutte, 19. Johan Momsen, 20. Luyolo Dapula 21. Reagan Oranje, 22. Andre Swarts, 23. Ederies Arendse, 24. Andrew Kuhn 25. Cameron Lindsay, 26. Theo Boshoff.