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Cheetahs campaign ends with a whimper

general18 January 2025 19:40
By:Brenden Nel
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The Toyota Cheetahs campaign in the EPCR Challenge Cup ended with a whimper and not a bang as they were soundly beaten 68-21 in their final pool game by Lyon on Saturday night.

The Cheetahs scored first in the game, but from then on struggled to contend with the running game of the French side, who cut them to shreds at times, scoring tries almost at will.

The fact that Lyon also had two tries disallowed, just shows how big the scoreline could have been.

Still, the Bloemfontein side fought hard, scoring two late tries but some hard thought needs to be put into their participation in the tournament.

Without a feeder tournament to keep them busy, it was too much to ask the Cheetahs to play in a top class tournament, based in Amsterdam, and far from their base, and without any competition where all the other sides are playing in their regular leagues.

Still, the gulf between the two sides was apparent from the moment that David Niniashvili touched the ball and scythed his way through the defence untouched to score a 60-metre try.

If anything the Cheetahs were guilty of falling off too many tackles, with the stats telling a sorry story of 33 missed tackles to Lyon’s five.

Flyhalf Leo Berdeu also ended with 26 points for the night with eight conversions and two tries to his name.

In the end the story of 10 tries to three tells a story, and the Cheetahs will head back to Bloemfontein knowing their next action will only be in the Currie Cup.

And that, for all their bravado, will be the saddest part of it all.

Scorers

Lyon - tries: David Niniashvili, Dylan Cretin, Josiah Maraku (2), Martin Page-Relo, Monty Ioane, Leo Berdeu (2), Alban Roussel, Camilo Chat. Conversions: Berdeu (8), Chat.

Toyota Cheetahs - tries: Daniel Maartens, Prince Nkabinde, Neels Volschenk. Conversions: Cohen Jasper (3

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