Cheetahs: Still some bite left!

Right winger Bjorn Basson scored two tries as the Cheetahs gained a convincing 29-14 win over the Western Force in their Super 14 rugby match.Their fourth win of the season and second in a row enabled the Bloemfontein-based franchise to jump two places on the ladder to 11th, with the Force dropping to 12th.

The Cheetahs set up their victory with a dominant performance in the first half in which they scored four tries to secure a bonus point and led 26-7 at halftime.

The Force were lacklustre in the opening half and looked a shadow of the side that had won four of their previous five matches. The Australians came back strongly in the second half but could add only one try to their score, six minutes before the final whistle.

Scrum-half Sarel Pretorius had an outstanding match for the Cheetahs and was involved in three of his team’s tries. In the first minute Pretorius pounced on a fumble by Force flyhalf David Hill and sent his own flyhalf, Naas Olivier, away on a 50-metre run to the try line.

Pretorius added the second try 11 minutes later from a scrum near the Force line. Centre Ryan Cross scored for the Force but his effort was quickly cancelled out when Basson scored his first try after a kick ahead by Olivier.

Pretorius was again in the action when he picked up after another handling error by the Force in the last minute of the first half. He passed to fullback Hennie Daniller, whose long raking kick downfield was successfully chased by Basson.

“We gave the Cheetahs too many tries,” said Force captain Nathan Sharpe.

“We made mistakes and you can’t do that against a side like the Cheetahs.”

Sharpe pledged an improved performance in his side’s final match, against the Sharks in Durban on Friday.

“We’ll go away and prepare well for the Sharks,” he said.

“We’ll bounce back next weekend.”

Cheetahs captain Juan Smith said he was delighted with his side’s win after a 36-32 triumph over the Auckland Blues of New Zealand last Saturday.

“We’ve had a lot of disruptions during the season, with a lot of injuries, but we said during the week we couldn’t make excuses. It was a great team effort.”

Springbok Smith said improved defence was a key factor.

“Defence was one of our weaknesses but we’ve got it right at the end of the season,” he said.