Cheetahs Return to Form over Griquas
The Free State Cheetahs took on the Northern Cape Griquas in Bloemfontein for the first game in the second round of the Currie Cup. The two teams battled hard throughout the 80 minutes of rugby, but in the end the Cheetahs were able to escape with a victory.
Round One
In the first round of the Currie Cup the Cheetahs suffered a loss while the Griquas surprised and came away with not only a victory but also a bonus point. The Cheetahs were beaten up by a very impressive Western Province side in a 25-11 loss, in which they only managed one try, bolstered by two penalties, both converted by Louis Strydom. The Griquas fared much better than the Cheetahs in the first round winning 40-34 over the heavily favoured Sharks. The Griquas put over four tries a conversion and three Olivier penalties. Heading into today’s match the Griquas found themselves tied in first position, while Free State sat tied for last.
Cheetahs 33 Griquas 26
Free State came out strong, scoring early and did not look back. Despite a late surge by the Griquas they could not do anything to stop a Cheetahs side that looked determined to climb back up the table.
Only eight minutes into the match Robert Ebhersohn notched a try for the Cheetahs, which was added to with a Louis Strydom conversion. Naas Olivier and Riaan Viljoen helped the Griquas crawl back early with penalties in the 12th and 27th minutes. However, the comeback was short-lived as Coenraad Oosthuizen scored a try in the 33rd minute, and coupled with another Strydom conversion the lead was pushed to 14-6.
The Cheetahs flew out of the half as Oosthuizen managed his second try of the match just one minute past halftime. Strydom continued his strong day kicking, making the lead 21-6. A try by Bjorn Bassan and a conversion by Olivier closed the gap to eight in the 48th minute. The Cheetahs refused to let up however, as three minutes later Nokwe scored pressing the score back out to 26-13. Olivier once again seemed to be at the centre of the Griquas offence, hitting a penalty in the 61st minute. Yet Olivier could not do it on his own as Oosthuizen completed the hat-trick and Strydom notched his fourth conversion of the game. A try by Sarel Pretorious, and a conversion and penalty by Oliver would not be enough, as the game finished with a score of 33-26, in favour of the Cheetahs.
The Griquas once again relied too heavily on the boot of Olivier as he registered nine of their points. Nevertheless, the Cheetahs played outstanding offensive rugby scoring five tries and earning the bonus point. In addition Strydom once again showed that he is a great kicker missing only one conversion all game, and helping to keep the Cheetahs at bay.
The victory will give the Cheetahs a total of five points, putting them in a tie for second, albeit before the rest of round two has been played. While the Griquas lost they still picked up the bonus point for losing by only seven. The extra point puts them in first, with the Lions, Bulls, and Western Province still to play.
The second round will continue with the Leopards facing off against the Pumas in Witbank, the Golden Lions and Western Province provide this week’s top match, to take place in Cape Town. The Blue Bulls and the Sharks meanwhile round out the week in Durban, in what should be an interesting match up, as the Bulls have lost a great deal of starters to the Tri-Nations Cup.
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