Leaders Cheetahs blow away Bulls to remain unbeaten

THE Cheetahs made it three wins out of three with an emphatic 32-7 triumph over the Bulls in Bloemfontein on Friday in a game they dominated from the outset.

Tries from Gideon van der Merwe, Marnus van der Merwe, Munier Hartzenberg, Sibabalo Qoma and Cohen Jasper proved too much for the Bulls who had just a Jan-Hendrik Wessels try to show for their efforts and had Muller Uys shown a yellow card in the first half.

Wessels’ try was one of the tries of the season as following slick handling, the winger showed impressive pace, managing to outstrip the defence to cut the deficit momentarily before the home side’s ruthless onslaught.

The Cheetahs’ bonus-point win secured their position at the top of the Currie Cup log.

Elsewhere, the Lions beat the Griffons 41-26 in an eight-try thriller.

Griffons went ahead through Marquit September and five points from the boot of Jaywinn Juries.

Sibusiso Sangweni scored a converted try in reply but had Entienne Swanepoel go to the sin bin before Thinus Delport scored the Griffons’ second try.

Things went from bad to worse for the Lions as Le Roux Roets was shown a yellow card and Pienaar’s penalty extended the visitors’ lead.

However, in the second half, the Lions ran riot outscoring their opponents 29-3 through a hattrick by Nico Steyn and Roets’ try.

In a repeat of last year’s Currie Cup final, champions Airlink Pumas ran out 28-13 winners over the Griquas following a strong second-half performance.

Tries by Etienne Taljaard, Brandon Thomson and Andre Fouche proved the difference to take the Pumas to second in the table, a point behind the Cheetahs.

This afternoon’s action sees fifth-place Sharks host unbeaten visitors Western Province at Kings Park Stadium.