Cheetahs leave it late to stun WP in Currie Cup clash

A second half blitz from the Cheetahs floored Western Province, as the visitors claimed a 28-21 (halftime 7-16) win in their Currie Cup match at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday evening.

The hosts put in a strong first half showing to hold a solid lead and then began the second half with a try that moved them 21-7 up, but this seemed to spark the Cheetahs to life as they hit back with three unanswered tries over the rest of the half to seal the bonus point win.

The unbeaten Cheetahs thus move to just one point behind the Bulls with a game in hand and are in the perfect position to make a play for the top of the log over the coming games.

“It was a frustrating first half. I think we conceded 12 or 13 penalties, which then makes it difficult to get your game going. But incredible character shown in that second half, our forwards made a massive step up, so pleased to get the win,” said Cheetahs captain Ruan Pienaar.

It was the Cheetahs that got off to the better start in the match, as in the 15^th minute they attacked from a scrum in the home sides 22m, crashing the ball up before prop Alulutho Tshakweni powered over, with Pienaar’s extras giving them a 7-0 lead.

However Province soon took control thanks to a slew of penalties from the Cheetahs, that allowed flyhalf Tim Swiel to pop over two penalties either side of Tshakweni receiving a yellow card due to repeated infringements, making it a one point game after 25 minutes.

A good spell of play from Province then ended with their first try in the 36^th minute as on attack on the 10m, fullback Tristan Leyds spotted a gap in the defence, stepped a defender and sprinted away to score.

Swiel added the conversion and then popped over a third penalty just before the half time hooter to give his side a strong 16-7 lead at the break.

Province then started the second half where they left off, well on top, as Leyds again showed his skill, sending a cross kick over for right wing Sergeal Petersen to catch in the Cheetahs 22m and offload to left wing Angelo Davids to go over for an unconverted score in the corner.

This however sparked the Cheetahs to life as they came powering back, first through a big converted maul try to hooker Louis van der Westhuizen in the 49^th minute.

Four minutes later on attack in the Province 22m and inside centre Frans Steyn popped a short ball to outside centre David Brits to smash through and score under the posts, with Pienaar’s conversion drawing the scores level.

Another powerful maul try to van der Westhuizen in the 73^rd minute then completed the comeback as the Cheetahs held on for a 28-21 win.

Scorers

Western Province  – Tries: Tristan Leyds, Angelo Davids; Conversion: Tim Swiel;  Penalties: Swiel (3)

Cheetahs  – Tries: Alulutho Tshakweni, Louis van der Westhuizen(2), David Brits; Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (4)