Cheetahs conquer Loftus at the death

Editor

A conversion from the touchline in extra time handed the Free State Cheetahs a 25-23 Currie Cup win over the Blue Bulls on Saturday.

Sias Ebersohn kicked of conversion from the touchline after the final hooter to hand the Free State Cheetahs a 25-23 Currie Cup win over the Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Blue Bulls led for nearly the entire game but a try for replacement hooker Skipper Badenhorst – the Cheetahs' only try of the game – leveled the scores.

Ebersohn, who had been on the field for just seven minutes stepped up and slotted the difficult conversion to hand the Free Staters their second win of the season.

The Blue Bulls will have to console themselves with a losing bonus point despite having outscored the visitors two tries to one.

The home side led 16-9 at half time thanks largely to the hard graft from their pack.

Blue Bulls flank Derick Kuün scored the only try of the first period, finishing off what hooker Gary Botha started with a barnstorming run.

All the other points of the half came from the kicking tees of respective fly-halves Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Louis Strydom.

The Bulls' number ten put his side ahead after just two minutes before Kuün touched down in the tenth minute.

Potgieter and Strydom traded penalties for the rest of the half but the Cheetahs never really threatened to cross the whitewash.

The second half was a different story however as the Cheetahs took control of the game and camped on the Bulls tryline for long periods.

Two more penalties from Strydom closed the gap to one point as the hosts led 16-15 going into the final quarter.

But after soaking up pressure for twenty minutes, the the men in blue struck back with a second try as outside centre Stefan Watermeyer found some space to run and wasted no time in finishing off.

The Cheetahs kept coming however and set up a grandstand finish when Strydom slotted his sixth penalty to reduce the gap to five points.

With the hooter having already sounded and the Cheetahs camped on the Bulls line the ball finally went wide to Badenhorst, who could trot over and clinch a memorable win.

The scorers

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Kuün, Watermeyer
Cons: Potgieter 2
Pens: Potgieter 3

For the Free State Cheetahs:
Try: Badenhorst
Cons:S. Ebersohn
Pens: Strydom 6

Blue Bulls: 15 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Stephan Dippenaar, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 John Mametsa, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 7 Derick Kuün, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Fudge Mabeta, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (c), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Juandré Kruger, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Danie Faasen, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Hayden Groepes.

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Philip Snyman, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Hendro Scholtz (c), 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Izak van der Westhuizen, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements:16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Kobus Calldo, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 JW Jonker.

Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee:Pro Legoete