Cheetahs bite back at Griquas
HAVING just stepped off the substitutes’ bench, Cheetahs’ hooker Ethienne Reynecke would hardly have had time to warm up in the biting cold yesterday before Griquas’ lock Rory Arnold did the unthinkable. He bit his arm.
As you’d expect, it rekindled interest in a match the Cheetahs had already taken from Griquas’ grasp with four tries inside the first 49 minutes.
Arms seem to be the flavour of the month and Reynecke complained to referee Craig Joubert, who had ironically just awarded a try to the offending lock. A tryscorer turned villain in a snap.
Griquas coach Pote Human was reluctant to condemn the player who has only been in Kimberley for a fortnight. “I couldn't conclusively see a bite. Why would he do that after scoring a try, but I’m not saying he didn’t do it.”
Further sanction for Arnold could be disastrous for Griquas as the other starting lock Hilton Lobberts suffered a broken arm.
As for the game, Griquas’ lacked variety and were made to pay. The direct route was their path and the Cheetahs easily dealt with the predictable.
The Cheetahs were more inventive and equally adept at following the shortest route to the tryline, as they were when they explored the width of the field.
Sarel Pretorius delivered his trademark sniping runs, Johann Sadie was ever alert to the gap, while Trevor Nyakane ran like a man late for a flight.
The Cheetahs were however hamstrung by some self-inflicted imprecision.
Flyhalf Elgar Watts at times handled the ball as if presented with an electric eel but what lay at the heart of the Cheetahs’ failure to hit the lead until they eventually did in the 23rd minute was impatience.
When gifted convertible penalties, they sought richer gains by going for touch.
Some last-gasp defence by Howard Mnisi on Johann Sadie who had an overlap and Francois Brummer on the speeding Raymond Rhule helped keep the visitors in touch but the tide turned on the cusp of the break.
Rhule was the recipient of an impressive surge and pass from Nyakane in the 38th minute and before Boom Prinsloo was gifted his second try by the selflessness of Robert Ebersohn who skipped out of a tackle to get over the line before passing to his captain in support.