A Bridge too far for Cheetahs

THE unbeaten Crusaders ran in four second-half tries to kill off any hope of a comeback from the Cheetahs to record another emphatic 21-48 bonuspoint victory yesterday.

The seven-time champions thrashed the Stormers 57-24 in Christchurch last weekend and, despite the marathon trip of nearly 24 hours to South Africa, the Kiwis ran riot at the Free State Stadium to register their ninth win in a row.

Energetic left-wing George Bridge grabbed his second consecutive hat-trick, running in his third try in the final quarter.

The Crusaders flew out of the blocks into an 8-0 lead after just 12 minutes as first flyhalf Richie Mo’unga slotted a penalty, and then lively fullback David Havili dotted down for the first of two tries on the day.

Havili, who has an eye for a gap, benefited from a powerful Crusaders scrum on the Cheetahs’ five-metre line where the visitors won a heel against the head. The ball was quickly spun out to right-wing Seta Tamanivalu, who bumped off Raymond Rhule and put Manof-the-match Havili over in the corner.

A brilliant counter-attack sparked by wing Sergeal Petersen saw fullback Clayton Blommetjies in space, and he kept his cool to find captain Francois Venter. The ball eventually made its way to Petersen again, who passed back to Rhule for the Cheetahs’ opening try.

But that was as good as it got for the Free Staters, with the Crusaders turning on the offloads and pace in a multiphase attack in the 34th minute that finished up with Bridge bursting through a few feeble Cheetahs tackles to grab his sixth try of the season.

The 22-7 half-time score soon became 29-7 after the break when Mo’unga darted over from a five-metre scrum. Nche got his try following good work by flyhalf Niel Marais and flank Uzair Cassiem, and at 29-14, the Cheetahs were still in the game with 25 minutes to go. But a three-try blitz in nine minutes from the Crusaders settled the outcome. – ANA