Cheetahs stay in the play-off hunt
Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:55
The Free State Cheetahs kept alive their play-off dreams with a dramatic 33-31 win in their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The game ended with two very dramatic decisions by the referee Marius Jonker, who yellow carded WP flank Francois Louw in the 79th minute for repeated infringements and then awarded a penalty try against Province for a deliberate collapse of the maul.
The seven points gave the Cheetahs a very valuable win, as WP had to settle for two bonus points - one for four tries and another for losing by less than seven points.
It's a pity - right or wrong - when the players are not the ones who make the decisions about who wins and who loses a match. In this match there were refereeing decisions - right quite possibly - which helped to decide that Free State would win the match.
No, that's not entirely true because they had to get into a position to sue refereeing decisions. The penalty count certainly helped them into useful positions and the penalty count was 14-1 against Western Province, and the 1 came in the first half. Then came the penalty try, presumably for collapsing a maul though it was worth asking if it was still a maul by the time it fell down for by then it seemed to be in in-goal where there can be no maul.
That sort of discussion adds spice to a spicy match. It was a thriller as the Free State, seemingly overrun in the first half, came back with one wave of attack after another as they came from 26-14 down at half-time to win by just two points.
It was a game that swept from end to end with thrust and counterthrust. There were great collisions, powerful scrumming and some wonderful running, by the likes of Joe Pietersen for Western Province and Lionel Mapoe for Free State in particular.
Free State scored first through two penalties, one against Pietersen at a tackle and one against Duane Vermeulen for playing a player in the air at a line-out. the tackle penalty was significant because Western Province were in all penalised 12 times at the tackle in the match, which makes the yellow card against Francois Louw late in the second half all the more understandable. Free State were penalised just once at the tackle.
After 11 minutes Free State led 6-0 while Western Province had just a charge by Louw to suggest that they were going anywhere but then they scored the first of their five tries.
From a scrum they went 8-9-10-13 - Luke Watson to Dewald Duvenhage to Peter Grant to Frikkie Welsh who cut clean through swerved around Hennie Daniller and scored under the posts. 7-6 after 13 minutes. Western Province would lead for the next 66 minutes.
Their second try was started by a scything break by Pietersen who had a game of extremes. He ran brilliantly with the ball and then twice failed to pass for a try to be scored and twice he failed to tackle which led to two Free State tries. He made and he broke.
Tonderai Chavhanga who was astonishing in the ball in the air, scored the second try, a remarkable affair as he bounced off defenders like a squash ball, beat four tackles and scored under the posts. 14-6 in 15 minutes, two tries in two minutes/ Potgieter goaled when Juan de Jongh was penalised and then Welsh scored his second. Chavhanga counterattacked and then De Jongh broke and gave to Duvenhage who sent Welsh sprinting for the posts. 21-9 after 26 minutes.
Free State used a penalty to form a five-metre line-out. They did this fiver times in the match, rewarded with a penalty try off the last one.
When Gio Aplon, who had an anonymous match, lost the ball as he tried to break out of his won 22, Free State attacked from the scrum. Corné Uys made the initial breach and then Johan Wessels powered over for a try which the TMO confirmed. 21-14 after 29 minutes.
Pietersen had a long run and Western Province were at the line and then over the line but Wicus Blaauw lost the ball forward. Pietersen had another run but then the Free State attacked. Louw won a turnover and gave top Watson who sent JJ Engelbrecht racing 60 metres for the corner and a bonus-point try. 26-14, and it was half-time.
Free State came close right at the start of the second half when they attacked but Wessels slipped right at the line and into touch. Western Province threw long into the line-out, an injudicious throw which Free State grabbed and from it Meyer Bosman forced his way through Pietersen and Welsh to score. Potgieter converted. 26-21 after 42 minutes.
Free State came close to scoring when Potgieter kicked a diagonal to his left for Jongi Nokwe and Uys but Nokwe knocked on. But then from a line-out they had an overlap on the right and Mapoe swept past Welsh and through Pietersen to score. It was an easy kick but Potgieter missed it and the scores were level at 26-all after 54 minutes.
At this stage Western Province looked rattled and were falling off tackles. Their saving grace was winning turnovers.
Pietersen raced down the left with Aplon unmarked outside of him but cut inside. Western Province stayed on the attack and went left where, as he was tackled, Louw passed a wonderful ball around the back of Nokwe for a try by De Jongh. 31-26 to Western Province with 13 minutes top play.
They were 13 minutes packed with thrilling activity as the Free State attacked again and again. They had sustained period of attack in the right corner. Western Province wheeled their scrum but then they destroyed the Western Province scrum. This was a period of penalties and five-metre line-outs. The penalty against Louw and his yellow card produced the fourth five-metre line-out which led to the penalty try.
Man of the Match: Despite his yellow card the man of the Match was Francois Louw who made tough tackles, ran well with the ball in hand and won crucial turnovers.
The scorers:
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Wessels, Bosman, Mapoe, Penalty try
Cons: Potgieter 2
Pens: Potgieter 3
For Western Province:
Tries: Welsh 2, Chavhanga, Engelbrecht, De Jongh
Cons: Pietersen 3
Yellow card: Francois Louw (Western Province, 79 - repeated infringements at the breakdown)
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Frans Viljoen, 6 Johan Wessels, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Chris Dry, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Louis
Strydom, 22 JW Jonker.
Western Province: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Frikkie Welsh, 12 Juan De Jongh, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Hanyani Shimange, 17 JD Moller, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 Paul Bosch, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: François Veldsman, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Gerrie Coetzee
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