Cheetahs break their Cup drought
Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:56
Dancing for joy: The Cheetah cheerleaders
The Free State Cheetahs recorded their first win of the Currie Cup season when they convincingly beat the Blue Bulls 24-15 in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Outscoring the Bulls by three tries to none, the Cheetahs put their campaign back on track and ensured they kept alive their play-off hopes.
The whole of the Free State from the Orange to the Vaal must have heaved a huge sigh of relief as at last the Free State won a Currie Cup match and that at their fifth attempt as they languished second last on the log with just one bonus point to their name. And they did their best to lose it. It was with only 20 minutes to go that they nudged ahead of the Blue Bulls whom they were beating in every department of the game. Free State dominated possession and territory but struggled to score points.
The battle for points started with kicking at goal. Jacques-Louis Potgieter missed two penalty kicks at goal in the first six minutes. Then he missed his third and late in the second half he missed one from slap in front.
This robbed Free State of even more points as they eschewed kicks at goal, even simple ones, in an attempt to use tries to score points. They did this in the second half.
The Blue Bulls were mindless. They only once were close to scoring a try and with few minutes remaining and short of even a bonus point, they marked and kicked for touch. They certainly did not deserve any points from the match.
While there was no overt fighting in the match, there was lots of niggle and a yellow card for Robert Ebersohn for a high tackle. While Ebersohn was looking on from the sin bin Free State scored seven points!
Potgieter was not the only one who missed. François Brummer kicked excellently and had goaled five penalties but missed the sixth with the score at 17-15. It was just after Free State had taken the lead.
Three tries to nil means you are well beaten and the Blue Bulls were well beaten. The trouble started in the scrum where Gürthro Steenkamp was again poor - his head on the outside and pushing upwards and when Jaco Engels replaced him things were not much better. One destroyed Blue Bulls scrum led to the try that gave Free State the lead for the first time.
Brummer scored first when Coenie Oosthuizen was penalised for using his hand to knock the ball back in a scrum. 3-0 after 11 minutes.
Free State attacked with quick ball till David de Villiers knocked on an awkward pass. They attacked again and Corné Uys was close. They nearly scored but an intackle by Gerhard van den Heever saved a try. But after missing three penalty attempts Potgieter dropped a soaring goal. 3-3 after 24 minutes and Free State were well and truly on top.
Then the Blue Bulls had their best period in the match. Brummer kicked another penalty, Werner Kruger was close to scoring and Brummer kicked his third penalty. 9-3 after 32 minutes.
Tiger Mangweni had a sharp break and things looked promising till Gürthro Steenkamp was smothered in a tackle. Ebersohn tackled high and Brummer made the score 12-3, which was the half-time score.
Free State won the second half 21-3. That was the measure of their domination.
They scored quickly in the second half, After Jongi Nokwe had been on a darting run to set up the attack, WP Nel plunged over for the try. 12-10 after 47 minutes but then De Villiers was penalised for an air tackler and Brummer made it 15-10 to end the Blue Bulls' scoring.
The Free State were well on the attack but the Blue Bulls had a scrum. Free State destroyed it and won a scrum of their own. The Blue Bulls were freekicked. JP Joubert tapped, held his pass well and gave to big Frans Viljoen who just managed to squeeze in at the corner as François Hougaard tackled him. From touch Potgieter's errant boot found the target and Free State led 17-15 with 20 minutes to play. It was just after this that Brummer was off target with a penalty attempt. And then Potgieter missed a penalty from in front and then a drop. But a try made all things better. It started when prop Nel burst through and pounded at the line. Hougaard brought him down but Free State got the ball back quickly and Adriaan Strauss scored. Potgieter converted. 24-15 with 11 minutes to play.
The Blue Bulls were frantic for a short while after this but their zeal soon seeped away and they stayed defending to the end.
Man of the Match: It had to be in the Free State front row and the leader of them was our Man of the Match Adriaan Strauss who was outstanding about the field as well.
The scorers:
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Nel, Viljoen, Strauss
Cons: Potgieter 3
DG: Potgieter
For the Blue Bulls:
Pens:
Brummer 5
Yellow card: Robert Ebersohn (FS Cheetahs, 38 - foul play, high tackle)
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Francois Uys, 7 Johan Wessels, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Jean Botha, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 JW Jonker.
Blue Bulls: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Marius Delport, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün (captain), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Fudge Mabeta, 19 Dries van Schalkwyk, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Jaco Engels.
Referee: Sindile Mayende
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Johann Meuwesen
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