CHEETAHS RAMPANT
Kings lick wounds after debut PRO14 campaign
THERE was plenty of hand-tohand-combat for almost 80 minutes before the Cheetahs were able to book their passage into the PRO14 play-offs with a 29-20 win over the Southern Kings at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The Cheetahs, who needed a single point to make sure of a play-off berth, knew they were in for a battle from as early as the fifth minute when Ntabeni Dukisa put the home team ahead.
This year the Kings have been the PRO14 whipping boys, and it was clear they wanted to go out on a high after a difficult season that produced one win in 21 games.
In the end, though, the Cheetahs held too much firepower in the forwards, and this laid the platform for the Free Staters’ four tries and a hard-earned victory.
With the Kings putting their bodies on the line, the Cheetahs were unable to stamp their authority for long periods on PRO14’s worst performing team.
“For the first time this season I thought we started really well and we were able to put the Cheetahs under a bit of pressure,” Kings coach Deon Davids said. “We were also a bit unlucky in the beginning with the bounce of the ball, and we did not capitalise on all our opportunities.
“Overall it was a huge effort from the boys and there was a lot of energy and competitiveness throughout the game.
“In my view we might have lost the game in the scrums, because the Cheetahs’ scrum was much better. They used their scrum effectively as an attacking weapon.
“The break down for me was a free-for-all. I was unsure at times at what the outcome would be whenever there was a breakdown. That broke our momentum in the game and the Cheetahs capitalised in one or two areas from that.
“Overall it was a special performance from the guys, if you think of what we went through for the past two weeks with injuries.
“All the players who took the field against the Cheetahs were players who were available. The rest of the players were injured. We also could not field three backline reserves as a result of all the injuries.”
Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan said it was clear that the Kings had been determined to make a statement in their final outing of the season.
“The Cheetahs were never expecting to have an easy game here in Port Elizabeth,” Duncan said. “We knew in the last game of the season, no matter which team the Kings threw out, they were going to come out with plenty of fight, and they clearly wanted to make a statement. I think they did that.
“You had two teams who wanted to move the ball around. There was a lot of pressure at the breakdown in terms of line speed, so you saw a lot off balls going down and thrown around.
“I think the Kings managed the game well and we did not have a lot of time in the opposition half. We went through stages where we found ourselves in our own half for quite some time. That was a little bit frustrating for the guys.”
The Free Staters had to wait until the 52nd minute for the first try of the second half, when skipper Francois Venter crashed over for a five pointer.
There was an early try for Dukisa, and the Kings were flying into their tackles against a Cheetahs side who made a jittery start.
After 15 minutes the Kings, against expectations, were leading 10-3 after Masixole Banda struck a penalty.
It was former Kings player Paul Schoeman who brought the Cheetahs back into the game, with his side’s first try after 18 minutes.
With their scrum dominant, the Cheetahs scored another two first-half tries, via Neil Marais and Uzair Cassiem, to take a handy 22-13 lead.