The Toyota Free State Cheetahs came to Durban high on confidence with a 100% record in Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked, but in a tense and uncompromising match, it was the brave Cell C Sharks who came out on top to inflict a first defeat on the Currie Cup champions.
Durban in February is infamous for the heat and humidity, but it wasn’t too different in November at Jonsson Kings Park and both sides had to content with difficult conditions before the Cell C Sharks finally prevailed, 19-13.
The Cell C Sharks initially won the much-vaunted set scrum battle, winning a penalty at the first scrum of the game when the Cheetahs were pushing hard in our 22. It was a cracking start to the game, both sides enjoying some territorial opportunities but excellent defence preventing either side from scoring.
In a week of swelteringly high temperatures in Durban, peaking on the day of the game, the heat and humidity played a big role in the match with both sides not finding the slippery ball willing to stay on script.
It is rare for either of these teams, given their collective desire to play exciting, running rugby, to fail to score any points, not for lack of trying. Eventually, after 33 minutes of play, Curwin Bosch sent the ball through the uprights after the Cheetahs had conceded another of the litany of penalties they were conceding.
When the hooter went for half-time, the Cheetahs, on a team warning for repeated infringement, lost a man to the sin-bin. To add to their ignominy, Curwin Bosch converted the long range penalty to double the Cell C Sharks’ score, with the visitors remaining scoreless at the break.
While it had been a low scoring half, it had certainly been filled with drama and an intensity we’ve come to expect in South African derbies.
The Cheetahs finally managed to put their first points on the board in the 48th minute which must be some kind of record in recent time as they cut the deficit in half. But the Cell C Sharks looked to have broken the shackles when Curwin Bosch sent the ball high, the Cheetahs failed to field it and Henco Venter sent it wide to Jeremy Ward. But the TMO referred the action to an earlier foul and the try was withdrawn.
Both flyhalves had long range penalty attempts, with Bosch winning that mini duel when his kick went over but Tian Schoeman’s effort fell short – his second miss of the game. He did redeem himself with 15 minutes to go when he converted his second penalty to cut the Cell C Sharks’ lead to 9-6. Into the final 10 minutes, the Cheetahs finally took the lead off a first phase attack and with the conversion, four points ahead.
But the Cheetahs suffered a second yellow card and with less than five minutes of the game remaining, Madosh Tambwe took a cross-kick cleanly to score the Cell C Sharks’ first try and with it, the lead. Bosch continued his 100% kicking record with the conversion and the three point lead was restored.
With time up on the clock, a vital penalty at the breakdown stopped the Cheetah’s momentum and any possibility of saving the game. Although it was 55m out, Bosch stepped up to the plate and delivered, a wonderful way to end the game.
The Cell C Sharks leap-frogged the Cheetahs into second place on the log after securing the win, thanks to a great team effort but certainly the kicking of Man of the Match Curwin Bosch made the difference.
“It wasn’t a pretty performance but we’ll take it against a quality Cheetahs side,” the flyhalf general said afterwards. “But the guys worked hard for 80 minutes to secure the win.”
Captain Henco Venter was beaming afterwards, but admitted that it wasn’t easy. “It was tough but what a day, this is whey we play rugby,” he said. “We knew we needed to keep up the pressure and they would eventually break.
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The Cell C Sharks host the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in a highly-anticipated Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked clash at Jonsson Kings Park this evening.
The competition is starting to hot up as the teams find their feet after a long period of inactivity which only heightens the expectations of the players for themselves and the fans for their favourite teams.
Although there was relatively few changes to the team named for this match, the Cell C Sharks are without two Springboks in captain Lukhanyo Am and wing Sbu Nkosi.
“It’s not ideal, but we have good replacements in Jeremy Ward and Yaw Penxe,” explained Cell C Sharks head coach Sean Everitt. “It’s exciting for Yaw to get an opportunity and Jeremy has been in the system for a while now.”
Being without your regular captain is never ideal but there will be times when a player is unavailable of rested and it provides opportunities for other players to step up.
“Henco Venter has been in our leadership group this year and showed strong leadership against the Pumas,” Everitt explained. “He has been a silent leader within the group and we feel he is the right person to take the reins.”
With a bench loaded with forwards, Everitt added that it was a horses for courses approach to this match and the expectations of what the Cheetahs will bring.
“We have quality coming off the bench and as far as the six-two split is concerned, we’re expecting a high tempo game. I felt that the players coming off the bench need to have impact and I think with the extra forward, we’ll have the opportunity to change the game.”
His expectations of the Cheetahs are high and he is respectful of what is coming.
“The Cheetahs will bring the same challenge upfront that we’ve experienced so far, they’re a team that’s been together for a while so they have a lot of synergy in their set-piece and we’re aware of the threat there.
“With Frans Steyn at 12, that adds a different dimension because he brings a strong kicking game to the position, along with his attack and carry ability.”
An interesting tussle can be expected between Marius Louw and Steyn in the midfield and Everitt heaped praise on both of them.
“They’re two very good rugby players, Frans hasn’t been a Springbok from the age of 19 for nothing. He’s a multi-skilled player, we all know that. I suppose it’s about the up-and-coming player against the experienced expert but Marius has shown some really good signs for us, especially fulfilling the big boots of Andre Esterhuizen, so I’m looking forward to that battle.”
Although the Cheetahs and Lions previous match was called off due to Covid-19 concerns, Everitt admitted that he had no illusions about their opponents coming into this game undercooked.
“I don’t think they’d be happy with two points against the Lions, they’d probably have greater expectations after beating the Bulls, so they will be raring to go. We know we just need to keep them out of their rhythm with good, aggressive defence.” “We don’t expect them to be off their game; we expect them to be at their best.”
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