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All square for Chiefs and Cheetahs

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:29

Leader of the revival: Cheetahs captain Juan Smith

The Chiefs and Cheetahs drew 25-all in Hamilton on Friday, with the home team scoring five tries to three but missing all eight of their kicks at goal.

The Chiefs earned a bonus point for four tries but will rue their shocking goal kicking, which at times was inept rather than merely inaccurate. Their handling was way below standard too.

The Chiefs are a mere shadow these days of the team which played in the Super 14 final last year and sadly, there were times when the they drew a chorus of booing from their own Waikato Stadium home crowd.

It was essentially a game between Super 14 also-rans with the ordinary facing the mediocre in a match where neither team produced a particularly noteworthy attacking or defensive display.

It was relatively exciting because the score was close, but while there were a few moments of attacking skill and glimpses of defensive intransigence, there was little consistent in the way of skill from either team. It was errors rather than skilful defence which allowed most of the tries.

But for the Cheetahs there was compensation in that it was their best outing in some time, having endured a miserable run of defeats, and they will fly home to Bloemfontein having salvaged something from their tour.

The Chiefs went into an early 5-0 lead when Tim Nanai-Williams had little trouble in splitting the Cheetahs defence wide open and Colin Bourke scored in the corner. Stephen Donald missed the conversion but the home team led 5-0 after five minutes.

Naas Olivier reduced the lead to 5-3 a minute later with a neatly struck penalty goal from the touchline.

Just over a minute later, the Chiefs were awarded a penalty inside the Cheetahs 22, skipper Liam Messam tapped and ran and a long pass gave Dwayne Sweeney the space to score close to the touchline. Donald missed his third shot at goal within the first 10 minutes of the match but the Chiefs led 10-3.

The Chiefs attacked strongly, Nanai-Williams again cut the defence, their forwards hammered at the goal-line, and when the Chiefs moved the ball wide Donald's long pass found Toby Smith unmarked a few metres in from touch. The loosehead prop scored unchallenged in the 19th minute but Donald miscued his fourth consecutive kick (15-3).

The visitors hit back in style when, from a line-out driving maul achieving excellent momentum, the Cheetahs surged across the goal-line and Davon Raubenheimer scored. Olivier converted and the lead had been reduced to 15-10 after 22 minutes.

To loud booing from his home crowd - when the Chiefs decided to kick for goal rather than to set up an attacking lineout, and again when he fluffed the kick - Donald missed his fifth consecutive goal kick.

From the next penalty they did kick for touch, the forwards drove for the goal-line and Hika Elliot grounded on the line for the Chiefs bonus-point try. Donald took his dismal kicking display to six misses in a row but the home team led 20-10 with six minutes to go in the half.

Sweeney came close to scoring after the halftime siren but the Cheetahs best defence of the game - from Jongi Nokwe and Hennie Daniller just inside the corner flag - prevented the Chiefs wing from grounding the ball.

Nani-Williams tested the Cheetahs defence twice immediately after the break and Elliot came close to scoring, but the Cheetahs also had a chance to score early in the second half when Nokwe had only to fall on a bouncing ball in the Chiefs in-goal. The ball eluded him and the Chiefs had a let-off.

The Cheetahs succeeded in keeping up pressure on the Cheetahs defence and were rewarded when WP Nel showed real power in bashing his way over the goal-line. Olivier converted and the lead had been reduced to 20-17 with 31 minutes to play.

The Cheetahs went ahead for the first time when the Chiefs tried to counter-attack from their 22 and Jackson Willison dropped a pass. An alert Meyer Bosman capitalised on the error and scored a try to give his team the lead but Olivier botched the conversion (22-20).

The home team had a chance to go a point up when they were awarded a penalty close to the posts but Callum Bruce, on for the subbed Donald, made a hash of the Chiefs seventh consecutive kick at posts.

But then the Chiefs did resume the lead when they launched a heavy onslaught on the Cheetahs defence, and when the Cheetahs committed defenders to a ruck close to their line, Messam burst around the side for a try. Bruce missed kick number eight for the Chiefs but the home team led 25-22 with 18 minutes to play.

Olivier drew the Cheetahs level at 25-25 when he goaled a penalty from 30 metres out in front of the posts, and with 10 minutes to play victory was up for grabs.

Each team in turn had a go at securing a win in the last few minutes, but neither side was able to score the winner, and the game ended in a draw. The home team had scored five tries to the visitors' three but their goal-kicking had been abysmal and on the basis of their great passion and determination to avoid a whitewash on tour, the Free Staters just about deserved their draw.

Man of the Match: This was not a game in which many individuals stood out but the return of flank and captain Juan Smith was crucial to the Cheetahs revival while fullback Hennie Daniller had a few impressive moments on attack and defence. But the Man of the Match must be Chiefs fullback Tim Nanai-Williams - the one player on the field who showed really exciting skill and was repeatedly dangerous on attack.

The Scorers:

For the Chiefs:
Tries: Bourke, Sweeney, Smith, Elliot, Messam

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Raubenheimer, Nel, Bosman
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier 2

The teams:

Chiefs: 15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14  Dwayne Sweeney, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Junior Poluleuligaga, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Culum Retallick, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Nathan White, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Vern Kamo, 17 James McGougan, 18 Kevin O’Neill, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Richard Kahui, 22 Jason Hona.

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Izak van der Westhuizen, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Nico Breedt, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Riaan Viljoen, 22 Robert Ebersohn.

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Shane McDermott  (New Zealand)
TMO: Josh Noonan (New Zealand)

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