Currie Cup round seven: Cheetahs maul Leopards
The Free State Cheetahs dominated the Leopards at home over the weekend.
Free State laid on the tries in a one-sided affair, which saw the Leopards shutout on the 20 August in Bloemfontein. The Leopards played a strong first half even though the Cheetahs were able to head into the break three tries up. The home side came out in the second half the more determined team and dominated play tacking on six more tries and embarrassing the guests with a 57-0 victory.
Recap
The Cheetahs opened the scoring with a try from their captain, Adriaan Strauss. Shortly afterwards the hosts were able to get across the whitewash again this time with Coenie Oosthuizen, pushing the lead to 14-0.
In the 34th minute the Cheetahs struck again with a try from Robert Ebersohn giving the home team and impressive three-try advantage at the half.
Quickly after the break Free State notched their bonus try with a scampering run from Hendro Scholtz.
The Cheetahs refused to let up for the rest of the match as Francois Uys, Phillip Van der Walt, Philip Snayman and WP Nel all got in on the action with tries of their own.
In the end the Cheetahs embarrassed the Leopards with an rarely-seen nine-try game, with Meyer Bosman converting on six of them.
Early in the match the visitors looked as though they were at least meaning to save face, however in the second half Free State’s relentless attack wore on them and they capitulated six tries. The Cheetahs were able to spread the ball around well with only Snyman getting more than one try.
Analysis
The Cheetahs had an up-and-down first half of the season, but managed to get their second half started off with a bang. Loosing to teams such as the Leopards is unacceptable and the Cheetahs have had no trouble against the lower ranked squads. However, they have run into trouble against the top flight clubs and if they hope to challenge for a place in the second round will have to remain consistent in the season’s second phase.
The Leopards look more and more like they will be relegated at the end of the season. With zero wins and only four points after seven outings it seems as though the squad from Potchefstroom are not yet ready for the premier division. It will be a struggle for the Leopards if they hope to remain in the top division for next season.
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