Champion Cheetahs edge Griquas
Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:01
The Free State Cheetahs started the defence of their Currie Cup title with a narrow 20-16 win over neighbours Griquas in Kimberley on Friday.
With South African Sevens star Schalk van der Merwe in sublime form, the Cheetahs outscored Griquas by two tries to one.
There was no score until the 12th minute when Cheetahs fullback Bevin Fortuin put up a high up and under, which bounced off a Griqua player's chest and was snapped up by JW Jonker, who scored under the posts. Jacques-Louis Potgieter added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Three minutes later, Griquas were awarded a penalty 30 meters out and in front of the posts and Conrad Barnard made no mistake.
Five minutes before half-time, poor defence from Griquas gave Cheetahs eighthman Schalk van der Merwe a try on a plate - which was converted by Potgieter, taking the half-time score to 14-3.
Nine minutes into the second half Griquas were awarded a penalty for offside, which Barnard had no problem with and seven minutes later they were once again awarded a penalty for a scrum infringement. Barnard duly converted for a 9-14 deficit.
In the 64th and 66th minutes new recruit Chris Rossouw - on for Potgieter - kicked two penalties for the Cheetahs, to stretch the Cheetahs' lead to 20-9. The first penalty was for pulling down in the line-out and the second for a loose scrum infringement.
With five minutes left on the clock Griquas' Stephan Gerber broke through the Cheetahs defence to score under the posts, which was easily converted by Barnard taking the final score to 20-16.
This win gives the Cheetahs the OFM Cup and the Man of the Match was Cheetahs' Schalk van der Merwe.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Try: Gerber
Con: Barnard
Pens: Barnard 3
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Jonker, Van der Merwe
Cons: Potgieter 2
Pens: Rossouw 2
Teams:
Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Gavin Passens, 13 Lafras Uys, 12 Herkie Kruger (captain), 11 MJ Mentz, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Tobie Botes, 8 Heinrich Stride, 7 Stephan Gerber, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Jacques Lombaard, 4 Wayne van Heerden, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Hans van Dyk, 1 Steph Robberts.
Replacements: 16 Dean Hopp, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Cilliers Coetzer, 19 Gareth Krause, 20 Dougie Helmuth, 21 Jaco Bekker, 22 Egon Seconds.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Eddie Fredericks, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Hendrik Meyer, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Neil Powell, 8 Schalk van der Merwe, 7 Hendro Scholtz (captain), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Kobus Calldo, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Jaco du Toit, 17 Ronnie Uys, 18 David de
Villiers, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Jandré Blom, 21 Chris Rossouw, 22 Hennie Daniller.
Referee: JC Fortuin
Touch judges: Chris Healey, M Mdashe
