Cheetahs in local derby triumph
Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:18
Power up: Cheetahs loosehead prop Coenie Oosthuizen. (c) Gallo
The Free State Cheetahs avenged last season's home Currie Cup loss to neighbours Griquas, with a well-deserved 33-26 win over the Peacock Blues in Bloemfontein on Friday evening.
The Cheetahs, playing host at a cold Vodacom Park, made up for last season's opening-day loss to Griquas - their partners in the Cheetahs' Super 14 franchise - with this welcome five-tries-to-two victory.
For one man, in particular, it was a memorable night - Cheetahs prop Coenie Oosthuizen, who scored a stunning hat-trick of tries, as the home side fully deserved their win. After all, they took their chances better and made fewer mistakes.
The visitors - come-from-behind winners over the Sharks last weekend - would have fancied their chances heading into this match, but after an early long-range penalty miss from fullback Riaan Viljoen they soon found themselves 0-7 down.
In fact, it was the selfsame Viljoen who was to blame for the Cheetahs score, his poor pass finding the home side's winger Philip Snyman who, in turn, put former SA Sevens teammate Robert Ebersohn in at the left-hand corner for the game's opening points.
Flyhalf Louis Strydom added the conversion, before missing a penalty kick a few minutes later, but in between visiting flyhalf Naas Olivier opened his side's account with a penalty in the 12th minute to make it 3-7.
Viljoen found his range - after Strydom's miss - from 56 metres out to make it 6-7, but a powerful burst from Ashley Johnson led to Coenie Oosthuizen's first try of the night; the nimble loosehead prop finishing well from close-range on the right-hand side.
Strydom's second conversion made it 14-6, with Free State inside centre Meyer Bosman missing an effort shortly before half-time, as the teams went into the break with exactly the same scoreline.
A score early in the second half was always going to be important and the Cheetahs wasted no time in making the first move when that man Oosthuizen broke three tackles - in the 41st minute - to power his way over for Free State's third try; Strydom's conversion making it 21-6.
A 15-point cushion was always going to be a big mountain to climb for Griquas, but they set about making a fist of it - getting their first try less than ten minutes later when in-form Springbok winger Bjorn Basson crossed under the uprights. Scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius made all the running after a powerful Griquas scrum and Basson used his opportunity off the wing to good effect - Olivier adding the two points to make it 21-13.
Griquas tried their level best to cut that eight-point deficit, but the Cheetahs were next to score when another Bok speedster, Jongi Nokwe, crossed for their bonus point-clinching try in the 58th minute. Juan Smith had done the hard yards with a bruising run into the heart of the Griquas defence, with Ebersohn feeding Nokwe for a simple run-in - his 43rd Currie Cup try.
Strydom was unable to add his fourth conversion, but at 26-13 there was going to be only one winner in this match - the home side.
Olivier, just as the match entered the final quarter, chipped away at their deficit with another penalty, but when Oosthuizen dived over for his hat-trick a few minutes later, it was basically game over - especially after Strydom's fourth conversion made it 33-16.
To their credit - or more to the point, to scrumhalf Pretorius's credit - the visitors hit back with a final try, the little No.9 leaping into the air to grab a stray Free State line-out throw and crashing over in the 75th minute to put them within striking distance of a losing bonus point, which they eventually achieved right on full-time.
But, the night belonged to Free State, who opened their account in the 2010 Absa Currie Cup - a welcome result after their home loss to Western Province last weekend.
"I'm very happy," said Cheetahs captain Juan Smith afterwards, "especially after our disappointing loss [to WP].
"We worked hard on our set-pieces this week and I thought it went well for us. It was our aim to put pressure on their line-outs and it served us well," added the Bok flanker, who seemed to find it quite amusing that his team's leading try-scorer on the night was a prop forward.
Griquas captain Naas Olivier was, understandably, disappointed with the result and he lamented his team's high error-count.
"There's plenty to work on," said Olivier, who - tellingly, perhaps - sealed a losing bonus point for his side, via a penalty goal in the 81st minute. "Our line-outs and kicking game were poor... but we'll be back!"
Man of the Match: Former Maties skipper Wesley Wilkins had yet another strong game for Griquas, despite being on the losing side. It was also great to see Springbok stalwart Juan Smith back to his powerful and committed best, whilst prop Coenie Oosthuizen will remember this match for a long time - more for his hat-trick of tries than anything else. Eventually, however, we settled on Cheetahs No.8 Ashley Johnson as our Man of the Match. He was strong on attack, creating plenty of holes for those around him, and deadly on defence - showing glimpses of the form that made him a Bok tourist at the end of last season. His yellow card was unnecessary, and silly, but his first 66 minutes were good enough for us.
The scorers:
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: R Ebersohn, Oosthuizen 3, Nokwe
Cons: Strydom 4
For Griquas:
Tries: Basson, Pretorius
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier 3, Viljoen
Yellow card(s): Ashley Johnson (Free State, 67th minute - dangerous play).
The teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Philip Snyman, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer
Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Pieter-Willem van Vuuren, 17 Kobus Calldo, 18 Barend Pieterse, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Corné Uys, 22 Sias Ebersohn.
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Rocco Jansen, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier (captain), 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Wesley Wilkins, 5 Cecil-John Kemp, 4 Frikkie Spies, 3 Albertus Buckle, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Jacobus Adriaanse, 18 Zane Killian, 19 Gerhard Human, 20 Rohan Kitshoff, 21 Matthew Rosslee, 22 Richard Lawson.
Referee: Mark Lawrence (SARU)
Assistant referees: Francois Groenewald (WP), Cobus
Wessels (SWD)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (Boland)
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