Cheetahs grab a victory over Bok-heavy Sharks in Challenge Cup

It’s performances like these that have many in the rugby fraternity, especially in the Free State, believing the Cheetahs being booted out of the Pro14 was an injustice.

The Cheetahs notched up a big Challenge Cup victory when they stunned the Springbok-laden Sharks 32-29 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

This was the Cheetahs’ second European victory in as many matches. Last weekend they claimed the scalp of another United Rugby Championship (URC) side, Zebre Parma, in Italy.

The men from Bloemfontein are playing in the Challenge Cup only as an invited side. They were booted out of the Pro14 along with the Southern Kings in 2020 to make way for the Sharks, Bulls, Stormers and Lions as that competition became the URC.

The Cheetahs scored four tries, through Marnus van der Merwe, Gideon van der Merwe, Daniel Maartens and Cohen Jasper. The Sharks scored the same number of tries via Eben Etzebeth, Francois Venter, Grant Williams and Makazole Mapimpi.

The Cheetahs were the better side by a mile in the opening half of the match and ran the Sharks ragged from the early stages. They also did enough in the final stanza to claim the victory.

The men from Bloemfontein managed to keep the men from Durban under enormous pressure despite the Sharks having no fewer than five Boks in the starting line-up.

After a lot of possession in the Sharks’ half, the Cheetahs finally managed to break the visitors’ solid defence for a first try by Marnus van der Merwe after 18 minutes of play. Ruan Pienaar’s conversion saw the Cheetahs take a 7-0 lead.

The Sharks responded with their try four minutes later, when Etzebeth went after a successful maul drive. After missing a penalty early in the half, Curwin Bosch was successful with his kick for extras and levelled the score.

The Cheetahs scored their second try on the half-hour mark through Gideon van der Merwe after a quick tap and play by Pienaar that caught the Sharks players napping. Pienaar’s penalty on the stroke of half time saw the Cheetahs lead by 15-7 at the break.

However, the Sharks started the second half with a blaze, as Venter scored a try within a minute after restart. But Bosch could not convert for the extra two points.

While Pienaar scored another penalty to take the score to 18-12 in favour of his side, they had a tough time containing the Sharks in the final half.

Williams went over on 54 minutes after another drive by the Sharks, who got into the lead for the first time after Bosch converted to make it 19-18. An excellent penalty from range by Bosch increased the Sharks’ lead to 22-18 as they looked more and more in control of the game.    

However, a mistake by the Durbanites saw the Cheetahs overturn possession in the Sharks’ half and Maartens score his try off the bench as the hosts regained the lead.

But it took Mapimpi just a minute to put the Sharks in the lead again as he scored his try on 65 minutes. With the Sharks leading with five minutes before the final hooter, Jasper displayed a moment of brilliance, weaving through opponents to score a try. Pienaar converted to put the hosts in the lead, and they held on for the massive win.

Scorers:

Cheetahs (15) 32: Tries: Marnus van der Merwe, Gideon van der Merwe, Daniel Maartens, Cohen Jasper Conversion: Ruan Pienaar (3) Penalties: Pienaar (2).

Sharks (7) 29: Tries: Eben Etzebeth, Francois Venter, Grant Williams, Makazole Mapimpi Conversion: Curwin Bosch (3) Penalty: Bosch.

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