The Toyota Cheetahs scored a try off the final move of the game to give the Bloemfontein team a thrilling 22-18 win over Zebre Parma in Amsterdam that was their first success in the EPCR Champions Cup this year.
The Cheetahs were under pressure for large parts of the game but their defence held firm and they were able to fashion a few tries out of nothing to keep themselves in the game. Then going into the final 10 minutes, perhaps sniffing a possible victory, the momentum shifted the Cheetahs' way as they spent that last period mostly on attack.
With an attacking set piece forming just outside the Zebre Parma 22 for the last move of the game, the Cheetahs initially showed good patience with ball in hand but then flyhalf Ethan Wentzel put boot to ball, forcing a scramble near the Zebre line. Momentarily it looked as though Zebre had won the ball back but then impact sub Jeandre Nel did what he was selected to do by making that impact in terms of an excellent turnover steal.
When the ball came back and the Cheetahs opted to go right it always looked like the South African team had an advantage in numbers and an overlap building and sure enough by the time the ball got to replacement wing Cohen Jasper there was no-one in front of him and he went over for the winning try.
Ethan Wentzel missed the conversion but the try was enough to turn around the one point deficit and secure their first win at their Challenge Cup home base, being the NCRA Stadium in Amsterdam. The win means that the Cheetahs have put themselves in with a good chance of making it into the round of 16, with a match away to Lyon in France to come next week.
Until the Cheetahs got over the line it looked like a driving maul try scored by Tomasso di Bartolomeo five minutes into the half for Zebre and 35 minutes from fulltime might go down as the winning try.
That score courtesy of a strong Zebre start to the second half put the Zebre ahead 18-17 after the Cheetahs had led 17-11 at halftime. The Cheetahs went ahead then thanks to a 35th minute try to the impressive flanker Jeandre Rudolph, who was on hand to take a pass from Ethan Wentzel who had chased up his own kick over the advancing Zebre defence. Wentzel converted the try and also kicked an earlier penalty to go with the try scored in the third minute by fullback Michael Annies.
The Cheetahas had in fact gone behind as early in the second minute to a Zebre penalty but had struck back quickly when the ball went loose out wide and Annies, every opportunistic, gathered it and ran through and scored.
The Zebres’ first half try, that put them 8-7 up after 23 minutes before the two sides traded penalties ahead of Rudolph’s later try, came courtesy of an intercept of a loose Cheetahs pass by loose-forward Samuele Lacatelli who put left wing Simone Gesi in at the corner.
SCORES
TOYOTA CHEETAHS 22 - Tries: Michael Annies, Jeandre Rudolph and Cohen Jasper; Conversions: Ethan Wentzel 2; Penalty: Ethan Wentzel.
PARMA ZEBRE 18 - Tries: Simone Gesi, Thomas di Dominguez; Conversion: Thomas Dominguez; Penalties: Giovanni Montemauri and Thomas Dominguez.