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Currie Cup result: Cheetahs smash Bulls to set up home final
Ruan Pienaar kept his side in front with solid goal-kicking throughout the match.
Tapiwa Mafura scored one of the Cheetahs’ tries in their semi-final against the Bulls. Picture: Charle Lombard/Gallo Images
The Cheetahs will host the 2023 Currie Cup final after smashing the Bulls in their semi-final clash 39-10 in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon.
Hawies Fourie’s team will take on either the Sharks or Pumas, who were to kick-off their semi-final at 5.30pm Saturday.
For the second week in a row the Cheetahs proved too good for the Bulls, who they also beat in the final round-robin match at Loftus Versfeld last weekend, to finish top of the log.
While the match in Pretoria was a close affair, Saturday’s semi-final was dominated in every department by the Cheetahs, who were deserving winners.
Poor Bulls start
For Jake White and his Bulls team it is the end of the road this season, the Pretoria team failing to win a trophy or play in a final.
The match started poorly for the visitors and especially for Johan Goosen, who had a clearance kick charged down, which resulted in the Cheetahs scoring their first try, through Reinhardt Fortuin in the third minute, and then the Bulls fullback missed a penalty minutes later.
In the second half Goosen was also penalised for ill-discipline, allowing the Cheetahs’ Ruan Pienaar to kick a penalty which put his side 32-10 up, and out of sight.
Goosen did slot a penalty in the 11th minute to get his side on the scoreboard, but those three points would be all the Bulls would score in a poor first half.
Jake White’s men conceded several penalties throughout the 40 minutes, which allowed Pienaar to kick the penalties and keep the scoreboard ticking over, while on the stroke of half-time fullback Tapiwa Mafura crossed for his team’s second try.
Second half
The Bulls had their moments in the first 40, but strong Cheetahs defence and some indifferent attacking play by the visitors prevented them from crossing the tryline.
A third Pienaar penalty at the start of the second half put the Cheetahs 23-3 up before the Bulls finally scored a try, by hooker Johan Grobbelaar, from a driving maul. And that would be it for the Bulls.
Pienaar slotted a further three penalties, while with the Bulls down to 14 men following the yellow carding of Jan-Hendrik Wessels, replacement back Evardi Boshoff scored a late try.
