Three tries in the space of just seven minutes either side of halftime propelled the Toyota Cheetahs to an impressive as well as comprehensive 26-19 win over DHL Western Province in a Carling Currie Cup game played in inclement conditions in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Cheetahs maintained their strong challenge for the trophy they won last year by scoring four tries to one and thus banking a full house of five log points, while the result means the WP chances of making the playoffs are now hanging by a thread as they failed again to add to the two wins they have scored against the Griffons.
🏉Full-Time: DHL Western Province 19 – 26 Toyota Cheetahs
— Toyota Cheetahs (@CheetahsRugby) August 10, 2024
#WPvCHE
@TheCurrieCup
@ToyotaSA pic.twitter.com/qmSQpy3h2A
The visitors started poorly and it was WP who dominated the first half hour of the game on the scoreboard but the Cheetahs got systematically better as the match endured and by the end of it they had such scrum dominance that it was hard for Province to make any impression as they tried to recover ground they’d lost during a mid-match Cheetahs purple patch.
WP looked like they were heading for victory when they led 13-0 going beyond the half hour mark.
Although the Cheetahs already had the edge when it came to possession and territory, they had struggled more than their opponents to adjust to the conditions and produced a plethora of handling errors.
They also missed 10 of their first 38 attempted tackles, while in the early phases of the game it was WP who were the more disciplined team.
WP’s young flyhalf Jurie Matthee was in impressive form early on and it looked like he might win the game with his boot, both from the tee and in general play.
He kicked two penalty by the nine minute mark to make it 6-0, and then 11 minutes later it was the flyhalf who produced a Henry Honiball kind of moment - there are some similarities between him and the legendary Springbok when it comes to physical stature - when he held the ball up over the advantage line and centre Damian Markus exploited the momentum by putting wing Angelo Davids in for the try.
The Matthee conversion made it 13-0, and Matthee also narrowly missed a long-range drop goal attempt.
His Cheetahs opposite number Ethan Wentzel missed two kicks at goal in that period.
WET AND COLD CONDITIONS
But it was also Matthee who made the mistake by dropping a high ball that gave the Cheetahs the field position from which they eventually scored their first try after a prolonged series of pick and gos around the fringes near the Province line.
It was lock and captain Victor Sekekete who dotted down the try, and then after Matthee kicked a third penalty to make it 16-7, the Cheetahs chose the close driving route again, this time the other lock Carl Wegner being the man to round it off.
Wentzel kicked the first conversion but not the second so it was WP who took a 16-12 lead into the break.
A minute after the restart, a well targeted kick over the advancing WP defence was followed up and wing Daniel Kasende went in for the try.
Wentzel’s conversion made it 19-16, with the Cheetahs turning their 13 point deficit into a three point lead in the space of seven minutes.
The score of 19-16 was how it remained for a long time during a second half which, considering the wet and cold conditions, was quite entertaining, and although the Cheetahs ended with a high handling error rate overall, they did improve in the second half.
For the most part WP, although they didn’t get as much ball as their opponents, showed some good handling skill in the conditions.
But they couldn’t overcome the disadvantage that was developed in the set scrums once the front row had been changed and as a consequence Province struggled to get out of their own half and were thus unable to challenge the Cheetahs, who effectively wrapped up the win in the 70th minute when another successful pick and go attack sent in Jeandre Rudolph at the corner.
Replacement Reinhardt Fortuin had earlier missed a long-range penalty attempt but made amends with the touchline conversion.
WP kicked a late penalty through Kyle Smith to earn a losing bonus point but it was too little too late for the hosts.
Defeat to the defending champions in the rain at DHL Stadium. #WPvCHE #wpjoulekkerding #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/YttvMcQNfK
— WP RUGBY (@WP_RUGBY) August 10, 2024
The game saw the return to the WP team of former stalwart Dewaldt Duvenage, who has played for Benetton for the past few years but made an unexpected and unannounced reappearance in in the Cape team’s colours in place of Imad Khan, who was the designated No 9 at the team announcement during the week.
SCORES
Toyota Cheetahs 26 - Tries: Victor Sekekete, Carl Wegner, Daniel Kasende and Jeandre Rudolph; Conversions: Ethan Wentzel 2 and Reinhardt Fortuin.
DHL Western Province 19 - Try: Angelo Davids; Conversion: Jurie Matthee; Penalties: Jurie Matthee 3 and Kyle Smith.