Cheetahs try hard but Tahs show class
UP AGAINST IT: Maks van Dyk of the Cheetahs looks for a way through the Waratahs defence
at the Free State Stadium THE winds of change have swept through the Cheetahs— but they didn’t carry the icy chill many had anticipated for Franco Smith’s new regime, in their introduction to Super Rugby against the Waratahs yesterday.
The Waratahs won comfortably enough but the Cheetahs, under-prepared because of the Bok camp and with four players on Super Rugby debut, didn’t drop their bundle. In the starting lineup flyhalf Niel Marais and No 8 Niell Jordaan are yet to play Currie Cup rugby but shot to prominence when Shimlas won the Varsity Cup.
They kept up with the Waratahs in the first half but felt the wrath of the defending champions in the second.
The visitors were slick operators. They breached the gain line using battering rams Jacques Potgieter and Taqele Naiyarovoro, but they also had the guile of strike runners like Israel Folau and Adam Ashley-Cooper. Even when Folau was tripped by Rayno Benjamin he had enough momentum to score and complete his hat-trick.
Early on there were some lapses in the Cheetahs defence, particularly when Cornal Hendricks shot out of alignment. He had a real mixed bag yesterday, scoring two tries when he wasn’t abandoning his station.
The Cheetahs were able to get a foothold primarily through the toil of their forwards, who gave them setpiece ascendancy. They went finger-tofinger with the Waratahs in the lineout, but it was in the scrums where they put the tourists under the pump.
The Cheetahs made significant territorial gains from the penalties that accrued from the scrums, and from there they deployed their tightly knit rolling maul.
The forward pressure also reaped benefits for the backs with Francois Venter relentlessly bashing away in midfield, while Sergeal Petersen was running to a full-length stride.
“I’ve got mixed emotions,” said Smith. “We were exciting but I think we over-elaborated with one or two passes. We definitely want to work on our defence. We conceded five soft tries. We played with width and the scrums were very satisfactory.”
The Cheetahs had to play catch up from early on.
The manner, for instance, in which Folau ghosted past Hendricks in the fourth minute should have chilled Smith’s spine more than the icy breeze that prevailed yesterday. When Michael Hooper rounded off another move four minutes later, the portents looked grim for the home side.
But this can be a funny old game. The Cheetahs didn’t just get off the mark with a try by Venter, they shot into the lead in the 15th minute with an intercept try by Hendricks.
The Waratahs, however, were irrepressible, and they kept coming. They will travel home today on top of the Australian conference.