The defending champions, the Toyota Cheetahs, showed a lot of guts and character on Saturday in a wet Cape Town to claim a hard-fought 26-19 win against Western Province in the Currie Cup. Province raced to a 13-0 lead at the Cape Town Stadium following two penalties by Jurie Matthee and a converted try by Angelo Davids within the first 20 minutes.

With five minutes to go before halftime the Cheetahs mounted their fight back with the captain Victor Sekekete scoring for the visitors. Matthee landed a third penalty before on the stroke of the interval, Carl Wegner, scored a crucial try by the visitors to see Province hold a 16-12 lead at the break.

Straight after halftime, Daniel Kasende, ran in for a try by the Cheetahs to put them into the lead for the first time. This saw a major turn for the Cheetahs and they started getting major scrum dominance especially after Cameron Dawson and Robert Hunt came on as replacement props.

Victor Sekekete. Photo: Morgan Piek

With less than ten minutes to play, the Cheetahs extended their lead when Jeandré Rudolph scored the bonus point try for the Free State. The replacement flyhalf, Kyle Smith, landed a late penalty for Province to get them within seven points for them to get at least a bonus point out of the game.

It was too little, too late for the hosts, and they had to grind and draft hard, the Cheetahs returned to Bloemfontein with a full house of five points and a Currie Cup double against the most successful team in the history of the tournament.

The Cheetah’s coach, Izak van der Westhuizen, told OFM Sport the bonus point made the victory even sweeter. “There was a stage in the first half when I was wondering how we’re going to get to the bonus point,” said Van der Westhuizen.

“We want to kick out and maul but we had to go for the three points because the conditions were just so tough. Getting the bonus point through four tries is a very good result for us.”

The Cheetahs will now focus on the Sharks who head to Bloemfontein next week. This match at the Toyota Stadium will kick off at 17:15 on Saturday.

Scorers:

Western Province: Try – Angelo Davids Conv. – Jurie Matthee Pen. – Matthee 3, Kyle Smith 1

Cheetahs: Tries – Victor Sekekete, Carl Wegner, Daniel Kasende, Jeandré Rudolph Conv. – Ethan Wentzel 2, Reinhardt Fortuin 1

Western Province – 15 Luke Burger, 14 JC Mars, 13 Justin Geduld, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewald Duvenhage, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Hendré Stassen, 3 Corné Weilbach, 2 JJ Kotzé, 1 Vernon Matongo

Replacements –16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 André Goedhals, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Kyle Smith, 23 Joshua Boulle

Cheetahs – 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Daniel Kasende, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Corné Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Replacements – 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Neels Volschenk, 22 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 23 Reinhardt Fortuin

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg/mvh