Currie Cup: Thanks for not playing it safe
THE FREE STATE CHEETAHS were deserved 36-16 winners of the Currie Cup final against the Blue Bulls in Bloemfontein on Saturday, finishing the competition unbeaten. Here are five things I loved about the match.
Attacking flair
THE Cheetahs had a number of standout performers. Sergeal Petersen showed his prowess yet again in the build-up to his two tries, and that break that almost led to a try for the Cheetahs (before Jamba Ulengo intervened to not only prevent a possible try but also get himself 10 minutes in the sin-bin) was awesome. Skipper Francois Venter’s beautifully timed pass to put Clayton Blommetjies away was first-class. The way Fred Zeilinga weighed his options before putting Petersen away for his second was superb. Blommetjies taunted the opposition’s defence with his lovely running lines.
Intelligent kicking
THE Cheetahs especially deserve a gold star for not kicking possession away every chance they got. It was an absolute delight seeing kicks mostly in the form of good grubbers or little dinks over the top. The Bulls weren’t bad either, even if we saw quite a few fluffed clearance kicks from them, mostly because they were under massive pressure in their red zone a number of times. When the Cheetahs did decide to kick long, it was proper. Just think of that brilliant touch-finder by Blommetjies that almost caused trouble for the Bulls in the first half. Then there was Niel Marais’ 21 points .
That interplay
THE attacking approach by both sides was laudable. The Cheetahs’ interplay between their backs and forwards was especially seamless. They held on to the ball while their support runners cut into space. They offloaded in the tackle and they played at a sky-high intensity. There was no head-down running and they didn’t take contact just for the sake of it. Instead, they focused on keeping the ball alive at all costs. Their loosies, with Uzair Cassiem, pictured, leading the way, deserve praise for the way they provided great ball for their backs, and the same can be said about the Bulls.
A crowd worth mentioning
IT seems like the Currie Cup isn’t as dead and forgotten as we thought it was. Either that or the people of Bloemfontein were just extremely excited about the prospect of winning their first trophy in eight years. The crowd of 43 000-plus was great to see, given the patchy crowds this year.
Teams sticking to their guns
YEAH both sides took more penalty kicks than they normally would have in the group stage, but as we all know those three points are crucial in finals rugby. Point is, they stuck to what worked for them. We didn’t see the Cheetahs and the Bulls suddenly playing “safer” rugby. They stuck to their strengths and the Cheetahs just managed to be more effective. It was great to see these sides which have adopted a different approach, not go back into their shells on the big stage.