Report by David van der Merwe

The Cheetahs made the journey to Newlands for a clash that promised to be full of running and hard rugby against WP. With WP 2nd and the Cheetahs 4th on the log before this round it was expected to be tough with both teams putting everything on the line.

The first half did not disappoint at all. The Cheetahs put first points on the board through a Johan Goosen penalty. Dewaldt Duvehage then handed them their first try when he passed the ball to Robert Ebersohn. Robert gave the ball to Cameron Jacobs who scored. Goosen promptly converted. Shortly after this Piet v Zyl went over for the Cheetahs and after the Goosen conversion it was 17-0 after just 17 minutes. WP fought back with two Lionel Cronje penalties to make it 17-6. But Lappies Labuschagne had the last say in the half as he scored his try. Goosen again converted and the teams went at 24-6.


Naka Drotske was a happy coach at half time. Allister Coetzee must have been like a lion with a thorn it's paw. And who could blame him.

The second half saw WP coming out with determination and drive. The used the rolling maul to first put over Nick Feton-Wells for his try. Then the reserve flanker, Deon Fourie, went over.  Yes Fourie played flank and not hooker. Cronje converted both tries to make it 24-20. The Newlands faithful started to believe WP would pull of a Houdini act and escape a loss. Sias Ebersohn however kicked a drop goal to make it a seven pointer. WP put everything on the line and that opened it up for Coenie Oosthuizen. The Cheetahs' prop went over for yet another try this season. This is probably the prop with the most tries in a season. Goosen converted to make the final score 34-20 to the Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs are now 3rd on the log, only 2 points behind the Sharks. The Lions will be in for a hard game next week in Bloemfontein. This will be a cat fight of note.

WP dropped down to 4th place. The Bulls are breathing down their necks 4 points behind. Allister Coetzee will hope that the injury worries will ease as he needs his best players back.

The race for a semi final place is heating up. With 3 weeks left their are still 6 teams that can make it.  WP, Griquas and the Bulls are fighting for the 4th place. But this can chance quickly as we have seen this season.