Nine try rout for Cheetahs

The Toyota Cheetahs continued to put their slow start to the 2018/2019 GuinnessPRO14 campaign behind them as they comprehensively routed Zebre 61-28 at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The Cheetahs had only won twice at home in seven starts this season, but they have looked a different team over the past two months and their home ground is starting to see an uplift in atmosphere as the local team comes back into the race for a play-off spot. This was their fourth win in the last five matches, an indication that things are coming right for coach Franco Smith and his charges.

The Cheetahs have no choice but to keep winning if they want to keep their slim hopes of a place in the play-off rounds alive and, with the exception of a three minute period in the second half where the team from Parma scored two tries in quick succession, there was never any doubt they’d get the full house of log points they were looking for.

It was the running of the Cheetahs backs on the dry Free State surface that initially stunned the Zebre, who were put on the back foot as early as the third minute as the Cheetahs injected impressive width into an attack off a lineout. The visitors looked outflanked from the outset.

It did take some good work from fullback Malcolm Jaer and a skip pass to create the space, but it was again Rabs Maxwane who dotted down for the Cheetahs. Maxwane is the top try scorer in the competition, and with this effort he stretched his tally for the season from nine to 10.

Zebre hit back almost immediately with their Fijian wing Paula Balakena going over in the fifth minute off an attack that featured some impressive off-loading and handling, with Balakena going in off a good one handed pass from his captain George Biagi. Carlo Canna’s conversion put the Zebre into the lead but it was to only last six minutes.

That’s how long it took the Cheetahs backs to make their next statement, this time running in a try from 100 metres. But while Malcolm Jaer will get the plaudits for his running and some of the other Cheetahs backs for the timing of their passing and their angles of running, the real source of the score was big prop Ox Nche, who was responsible for the turn-over near his own line that made the counter-attack possible.

In another few minutes Sintu Mangezi had gone over to stretch the Cheetahs’ advantage beyond the double figure mark, and when former South Africa under-20 flanker Abongile Nonkontwana scored nine minutes from halftime, his first PRO14 try, the writing was on the wall for the Italians.

The Cheetahs did not add to their score in the nine minutes that remained before the break, but their 26-7 lead at halftime was comprehensive enough. They added another try six minutes into the half to make it 33-7, but then came the little relaxation period from the Cheetahs that temporarily let their opponents back into the match.

Openside flanker Johan Meyer was the first to cross, in the 50th minute, and then replacement lock Apisai Tauyavuca added another to cut the deficit to 12 points (33-21) after 53 minutes. It required the Cheetahs to score next to settle the nerves and that is exactly what they did, with scrumhalf Shaun Venter crossing for the first of his brace of tries by quickly taking a tap penalty when the Zebre scrum infringed in front of the posts.

Skipper Biagi scored a good try to show that there was still some spirit left in the Zebre, but it was mostly one-way traffic in the last quarter, with the Cheetahs finishing off with a flourish. Flyhalf Tian Schoeman, in addition to controlling the game well, made a solid contribution to the win by converting eight of the nine tries that his team scored.

Scores

Toyota Cheetahs 61 - Tries: Rabs Maxwane, Malcolm Jaer, Sintu Mangezi, Abongile Nonkontwana, Ox Nche, Shaun Venter 2, Junior Pokomela and Bernhard Janse van Rensburg; Conversions: Tian Schoeman.

Zebre 28 - Tries: Paula Balakena, Johan Meyer, Apisai Tauyavuca and George Biagi; Conversions: Carlo Canna 4.