Kockott sinks the Cheetahs

The Sharks continued to stay in touch with the Griquas after claiming a 21-12 win over Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.

The Sharks continued to stay in touch with the pace-setting Griquas after recording a 21-12 victory over Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

Weather conditions ultimately played a large factor in how this contest panned out, with rising puddles on a mass of vacated seats summing up the atmosphere in what was a timid 80 minutes of Currie Cup rugby.

Subsequently both teams' game-plans were re-gauged due to the forecast, which made it abundantly clear that one would be witnessing a night of just three-point scores.

But despite its ugliness and no tries being scored, Sharks coach John Plumtree will be more than happy with his team's efforts..

The first penalty came through home fly-half Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who opened matters from the tee after man-of-the-match Rory Kockott kicked the ball back into an unstable scrum. But with the form of a recently cleared Kockott leading the Sharks, that cushion was cancelled out on 20 minutes.

And so the trend continued in Bloemfontein while the side-show of the vital physical battle starring Free State Cheetahs captain Hendro Scholtz and visiting flank Jean Deysel was fairly tasty.

It was then a moment of the bad and good from Kockott though, as he hooked a poorly struck penalty attempt to the left but then landed a long-range drop-goal from the resulting 22-metre restart – response indeed from the fired up scrum-half.

Kockott was playing inside fly-half Guy Cronje, who must now realise that he will soon be stepping aside for short-term signing Juan Martin Hernandez. But the youngster did what was asked of him on Friday by not overcomplicating matters as his half-back kicked the life out of the hosts.

It was no surprise that Potgieter scored all the home team's points, also dropping a goal and kicking three penalties, but it was a flat-looking Cheetahs back line that leaves the pressure mounting on Naka Drotske.

The home side's coach must now be feeling the weight growing on his shoulders after what was their four straight defeat in this season's competition.

The scorers:

For FS Cheetahs:
Pen: Potgieter 3
Drop: Potgieter

For the Sharks:
Pen: Kockott 5, Dumond
Drop: Kockott

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Danwel Demas, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Tertius Carse, 8 Francois Uys, 7 Hendro Scholtz (c), 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 JP Joubert, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 JW Jonker.

Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche (c), 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Andries Strauss, 12 Riaan Swanepoel, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Guy Cronje, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Nikolai Blignaut, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Monty Dumond, 22 Waylon Murray.

Referee: Willie Roos