Cheetahs win Cape Town scrap

MATCH REPORT: The Cheetahs left it late but they reclaimed top spot on the Currie Cup standings - at least for the next 24 hours - with a hard-earned 26-17 win over Western Province in a scrappy Round Six encounter in Cape Town.

The two teams had 40-odd errors between them and 17 penalties.

The home team eased into a 14-5 lead in the first half-hour - tries by Andre-Hugo Venter and Angelo Davids putting them in control.

However, the turning point came late in the first half - veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar showing his experience to set up a try for Reinhardt Fortuin - making it 14-12 for the home team at the half-time break.

Kade Wolhuter stretched that lead to 17-12 with a penalty just short of the hour mark, but that would be WP's last score.

The Cheetahs took control through their bruising pack - with Louis van der Westhuizen getting the third and a penalty try bringing up the bonus point in the 77th minute.

WP, with Corne Weilbach already in the sin bin for a cynical foul, were lucky they did not go down to 13 men - the TMO unable to find the number of the player that collapsed in a maul streaming towards the tryline.

The home side made a strong start and spent some quality time camped in opposition territory before the pressure eventually resulted in the opening try, with hooker Andre-Hugo Venter scoring from a maul.

The Bloemfontein side got on the scoreboard when flank Gideon van der Merwe scored in the corner, but the conversion attempt from Ruan Pienaar went wide.

The second Western Province try came from some enterprising backline play, with Angelo Davids finishing acrobatically in the corner and Kade Wolhuter adding the touchline conversion.

The visitors were last to score before half-time through flyhalf Reinhardt Fortuin, but it was Western Province that took a slender 14-12 lead into the break.

They extended that lead to five points with a penalty from Wolhuter just short of the hour mark, but the Cheetahs responded with a try by replacement hooker Louis van der Westhuizen that saw them hit the lead for the first time in the match.

They followed that up with a penalty try at the death to seal the 26-17 win and deny Western Province a bonus point.

The scorers

For Western Province

Tries: Venter, Davids

Cons: Wolhuter 2

Pen: Wolhuter

For the Cheetahs

Tries: Van der Merwe, Fortuin, Van der Westhuizen, Penalty try

Cons: Pienaar 2, a penalty try does not require a conversion

Yellow card: Corne Weilbach (Western Province, 75 - cynical foul, illegally entering a fast-moving maul)

Teams

Western Province: 15 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Leon Lyons.

Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Cornel Smit, 23 Luke Burger.

Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 David Brits, 11 Munier Hartzenberg, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Sibabalo Qomo, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Arnanos Coetzee, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Schalk Ferreira.

Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Siyamthanda Masuku, 23 Tapiwa Mafura.

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen

TMO: Marius Jonker

* Additional reporting by @WP_RUGBY