OORB

Well- no siege of the Cheetahs dream at Kimberley then- getting 5 point at one of the most unforgiving rugby travel destinations on earth.

Griquas is a hard nut to crack at home- and as usual, the hard men from the northern cape keep their best for their orange outback neighbours. I have not watched this game- so will rely on a cut and paste match report.

Well done cheetahs

SOURCE - www.rugby365.com

Cheetahs work hard for Kimberley win
Saturday August 19 2006
Late try seals bonus-point win

The Cheetahs were made to work very hard for a 31-20 Currie Cup win against Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday, a win which also saw them take the OFM Challenge Cup for the third successive year. While the try-count was five-two to the Cheetahs, the win was only secured in injury time.

It was not a match that reached great heights, although it had some great moments. But those were too few and far between.

However, the Cheetahs will be happy that they recorded a win and scored a bonus point. Winning ugly could also bring some satisfaction.

It was a typical derby match, in which two sides bashed at each other vigorously and in the end it was the Cheetahs' greater forward strength that saw them home.

Griquas will also rue the numerous scoring chances they wasted with wrong options. The game was there for the taking, but they gave up at least three penalties - searching for tries instead and failing to find them.

The Cheetahs' hero was undoubtedly Bok utility Meyer Bosman, who showed Jake White that it was a mistake to drop him from the Tri-Nations squad. He started at inside side centre and finished at fly-half. In both positions he showed some sublime touches.

The Cheetahs had some early problems, with referee Linston Manuels, yes he of infamy, awarding three penalties to Griquas inside the first three minutes - one of which was slotted by Griquas fly-half Conrad Barnard for an early lead.

But the visitors settled down and when Mr Manuel awarded a penalty to the Cheetahs in the eighth minute, Willem de Waal slotted it from just over 30 metres to level the scorers.

The game then went into a lull, as both teams made liberal use of the boot - trying to find field position and hoping for some favourable bounces on the rock hard surface in Kimberley. The stop-start nature of the game did not make for great entertainment.

Eventually the stalemate was broken when Cheetahs captain Ollie le Roux bust through a few attempted tackles and rumbled up the middle of the field, to set up camp just in front the Griquas post. After a series of strong forward drives the Cheetahs found space out wide and Bevin Fortuin went over for the first try. De Waal's conversion drifted wide, but the Cheetahs were leading 8-3.

Four minutes later Griquas were back in the lead, when Tiger Mangweni joined the line at pace from fullback and found space out wide. He offloaded to Vuyani Dlomo, who in turn gave to Ronnie Cooke, who came up in support. Cooke went over for his team's first try and Barnard's conversion made it 10-8 to the home side.

The Cheetahs were next to score in this see-saw battle, when Windpomp van Rooyen was penalised for coming in at the side of a maul and De Waal slotted the penalty from 40 metres out - 11-10.

Now it was the turn of Griquas to question the referee's rulings, as they conceded a number of penalties. His explanations sounded logical, but Griquas captain Gareth Krause still shook his head in disbelief.

The game then again lost its shape, with both sides guilty of some real shocking errors, including Darron Nell knocking on inside the Griquas 22 with an open try-line.

Griquas' biggest sins were that they failed to convert kicks at goal - along with not taking a penalty shot at goal and rather opting for a line-out, with the Cheetahs simply bullying them into touch.

The final act of the half belonged to Griquas, when Cheetahs scrum-half Michael Claassens went offside at a ruck right in front of his posts and Barnard slotted the resulting penalty to make it 13-11 in favour of the home team at the break.

The Cheetahs scored first in the second half, after being let off the hook by Griquas - who again opted against taking a penalty shot at goal and paying a dear price.

It was Meyer Bosman who bust through in midfield and with plenty of support runners the Cheetahs raced clear and Philip Burger scored the try. De Waal couldn't convert, but the Cheetahs were leading again - 16-13.

The Cheetahs stretched their lead a few minutes later, when livewire flank Kabamba Floors turned over line-out ball for the Cheetahs and offloaded to fellow loose forward Darron Nell, who raced over for the third Cheetahs try. Again De Waal's conversion drifted wide, but the lead was now 21-13.

The Cheetahs were reduced to 14 men in the 55th minute, when wing Gavin Passens was yellow carded for a professional foul.

But again Griquas wasted a golden scoring opportunity - opting to kick for touch and not going for posts. Their attempts at scoring a try came to naught as they kept running into a white wall of defenders.

They did eventually manage to exploit their numerical advantage, when Bobby Joubert went over after running into space. Barnard added the conversion to make it a one-point game again - 21-20 to the Cheetahs.

The bonus-point try for the Cheetahs came in the 70th minute, following a great chip by Meyer Bosman, which turned into a five-metre scrum for the Cheetahs. From the scrum there was a series of forward rushes, before replacement prop Wian du Preez scored in his 50th game. Bosman failed with the conversion, but the Cheetahs had a six-point lead - 26-20.

Griquas now threw everything into attack in the final 10 minutes, as they searched for the winner. But their desperation were only rewarded with more turnovers, which the Cheetahs booted back deep into Griquas territory.

And with time up on the clock and Griquas attacking from inside their own 22, one of those turnovers gave the Cheetahs a final try, by Burger.

That not only secured the win for the Cheetahs, but robbed the home side of a possible bonus point.

The scorers:

For Griquas:
Tries: Cooke, Joubert
Cons: Barnard 2
Pens: Barnard 2

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Fortuin, Burger 2, Nell, Du Preez
Pens: De Waal 2

Yellow card: Gavin Passens (Cheetahs, 55 - professional foul)

Teams:

Wildeklawer Griquas: 15 Tiger Mangweni, 14 Vuyani Dlomo, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Herkie Kruger, 11 Bobby Joubert, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Tertius Carse, 8 Frans Viljoen, 7 Gareth Krause (captain), 6 Wayne van Heerden, 5 Windpomp van Rooyen, 4 Lodie Britz, 3 Hedley Wessels, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Jané du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Eugene Van Staden, 18 Cilliers Coetzer, 19 Heinrich Stride, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 JP Joubert, 22 Zane Kirchner

Vodacom Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Philip Burger, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Gavin Passens, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ryno van der Merwe, 7 Darron Nell, 6 Kabamba Floors, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Rory Duncan, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Jaco du Toit, 1 Ollie le Roux (captain).
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Bian Vermaak, 19 Heinrich Brüssouw, 20 Falie Oelschig, 21 Chris Kruger, 22 Alwyn Hollenbach

Referee: Linston Manuels (Boland)
Assessor: Stuart Berry (KwaZulu Natal), Chris Healey (KwaZulu Natal)
Television match official: Pro Legoete (Golden Lions)
Assessor: Richard Nash (Golden Lions)

# posted by Oranje_Orakel : 6:45 PM