Pumas frustrate desperate Cheetahs
The Pumas scored a 78th minute converted try to draw the game 37-37 in an epic Currie Cup clash.
The Pumas put on the first points of the match with a Justin van Staden penalty after the Cheetahs conceded a penalty for collapsing the scrum.
Sias Eberson levelled the score in the 15th minute with a penalty in front of the posts.
Van Staden then slotted another penalty to give the Pumas a 6-3 lead.
Flank Jaco Bouwer then scored the first try of the match in the 20th minute as the Pumas mauled the ball over the tryline.
Van Staden duly added the extras.
The Cheetahs went down to 14 men when Ryno Benjamin was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle.
The Pumas were content to slow down the game and hurt the Cheetahs backline with a number of brutal tackles.
The Cheetahs looked dangerous when they did run the ball but they made too many errors.
The Cheetahs then turned the match on it's head with two quick tries in two minutes when Sergel Petersen went over in the corner followed by Springbok loose forward Teboho Mohoje.
Eberson kicked both conversions for a 17-13 lead to the Cheetahs.
Van Staden then kicked a huge 50 meter penalty to move within one point of the Cheetahs.
In the final minute of the first half Sergel Petersen popped the ball up for Francois Venter to dive over for the try.
Eberson slotted over the conversion. The Cheetahs went into the break leading 24-16.
The second half started slowly but Eberson kicked a great probing kick behind the defence – Venter almost scored the try but the referee judged that the ball was knocked-on.
The Cheetahs eventually scored their bonus point try when De Wet Kruger scored a try from behind a rolling maul. Eberson missed the conversion.
The Pumas fought back bravely as De-Jay Terblanche crashed over the tryline in the 56th minute after a number of phases of attack to put them back in the game.
Van Staden added the two points to make the score 23-29 as they closed the gap to six points.
The Pumas got a penalty right in front of the posts but they opted for the lineout five meters from the tryline.
The Pumas mauled over as Marnus Schoeman went over for the try and Van Staden kicked the difficult conversion for the Pumas to take a 30-29 lead.
The Cheetahs hit back immediatly as Freddy Ngoza barged over the line for a try to regain the lead for the Cheetahs.
In a freak incident Francois de Klerk, the smallest man on the field, managed to charge down the conversion. This moment would become key to the Pumas saving the match.
Neil Marais then added a penalty for the Cheetahs to give them a 37-30 lead with eight minutes left of the match.
The Pumas applied great pressure in the final minutes and they won a penalty five meters from the Cheetahs tryline.
Ryno Benjamin got his second yellow for a professional foul and he automatically gots a red card as a result of the second yellow.
Rudi Mathee then drove over for the Pumas bonus point try and van Staden made the game level at 37-37
Man of the Match: Pumas flyhalf Justin van Staden had a very good game as he kept his team in the match with his excellent boot. Francois Venter was very good on attack for the Cheetahs. Marnus Schoeman came off the bench to give the Pumas great forward momentum with his powerful drives and strong tackling. Man of the Match goes to Francois de Klerk for his great distribution and his match saving charge-down of the Cheetahs conversion in the 73rd minute.
The scorers:
For the Pumas:
Tries: Bouwer, De-Jay Terblanche, Schoeman, Mathee
Cons: Van Staden 4
Pens: Van Staden 3
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Petersen, Mohoje, Venter, Kruger, Ngoza
Cons: Eberson 3
Pens: Eberson 1, Marias
Yellow card: Ryno Benjamin (Free State Cheetahs, 21 – dangerous tackle), Ryno Benjamin (Free State Cheetahs, 78 – professional foul)
Red Card: Ryno Benjamin (Free State Cheetahs, 78 – two yellow cards)
The Teams:
Pumas: 15 John-Wessel Bell, 14 Jerome Pretoius, 13 Hoffmann Maritz, 12 Stefan Watermeyer (captain), 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Jaco Bouwer, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Frank Herne, 1 Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Rudi Mathee, 19 Marnus Schoeman, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Hennie Skorbinski, 22 Bernardo Botha.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 De Wet Kruger, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Reniel Hugo, 3 Luan De Bruin, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Teunis Nieuwoudt .
Replacements: 16 Chase Morison, 17 Burrie Gildenhuys Uys, 18 Willem Serfontein, 19 Freddy Ngoza, 20 Ruan Van Rensburg, 21 Niel Marais, 22 Adriaan van der Berg Coertzen.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Pieter Maritz
TMO: Willie Vos
