Cheetahs edge Sharks in Bloem thriller

MATCH REPORT: A late penalty kick from Francois Steyn helped the Cheetahs edge the Sharks 39-38 in a thrilling match in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

The Cheetahs looked in control at half-time with a 28-12 lead. However, the Sharks fought back in the second half to lead 38-36 with a couple of minutes left on the clock before Steyn stepped up for the winning kick.

There were 11 tries in the match with the Sharks scoring six of them during the 80 minutes. The defences on both sides were shred to pieces most of the time, but those lapses were offset by some thrilling scoring opportunities.

The Cheetahs' lead at half-time was well-deserved after they outscored the visitors by four tries to two in a lively opening stanza.

The visiting side opened the scoring as early as the sixth minute when scrumhalf Grant Williams caught the home defence napping from a scrum to run through untouched under the posts for a 7-0 lead.

The Durbanites had to wait until three minutes before half-time for their second try, which was scored by burly lock JJ van der Mescht.

The conversion attempt by Jordan Chiat (flyhalf) from under the poles unfortunately hit the upright, which meant the team in black were able to reduce the deficit to only 28-12 after the home side had managed to score four converted tries.

Regular Cheetahs skipper Ruan Pienaar - who was back in the starting line-up after playing off the bench two weeks ago - was the first to dot down, and this was followed up by prop Khutha Mchunu, midfielder Chris Smit and speedster Malcolm Jaer.

Steyn easily converted all four tries to continue his remarkable kicking performance in the Cheetahs jersey.

The visiting Sharks started the second half as they finished the first when loose forward Thembelani Bholi was on hand to take a pass from Williams for their third try.

However, the Free Staters were not to be outdone, and barely four minutes later they hit back with try by No.5 lock Rynier Bernado, but the conversion attempt steered wide.

The Sharks then made a number of replacements, with Manie Libbok and Werner Kok introduced into the backline, and the changes delivered immediate results when Kok was on hand to take a pass for an easy run-in over the whitewash. Libbok kicked the conversion and was also on target with other similar attempts following the tries by forwards Phepsi Buthelezi and Mpilo Gumede.

That burst of three converted tries allowed the Sharks to grab the lead at 38-36 for the first time in the match with only 15 minutes remaining.

The visitors, however, made a few crucial mistakes, and Steyn was on target with his second penalty goal of the evening, which landed the winning blow for an entertaining win.

*As it happened: Cheetahs v Sharks

Man of the match: There were plenty of contenders from both team after an entertaining match. We decided to give the award to Ruan Pienaar, who had an excellent first half. He scored a try and had a hand in few others.

The scorers:

For Cheetahs:

Tries: Pienaar, Mchunu, Smit, Jaer, Bernard

Cons: Steyn 4

Pens: Steyn 2

For Sharks:

Tries: Williams, Van der Mescht, Bholi, Kok, Buthelezi, Gumede

Cons: Chait 2, Libbok 2

Yellow card: Grant Williams (Sharks, 28 - repeated infringements)

Teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 13 Chris Smit, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Aidon Davis, 7 George Cronje, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Wilmar Arnoldi, 1 Cameron Dawson.

Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Conraad van Vuuren, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Jean Droste, 20 Teboho Mohoje, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Duncan Saal.

Sharks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Jeremy Ward (captain), 12 Murray Koster, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Jordan Chait, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 James Venter, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 JJ van der Mescht, 3 John-Hubert Meyer, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Khwezi Mona.

Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Michael Kumbirai, 19 Reniel Hugo, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Werner Kok.

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen

Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby & Jaco Kotze

TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni

Photo credit: @CheetahsRugby

Additional source: SA Rugby