Super Rugby: Cheetahs survive Force fightback
Last Updated: 02/07/16 4:29pm
The Cheetahs withstood a late comeback from the Force to edge the Australians 30-29 in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Cheetahs raced ahead to a 27-10 half-time lead, but a superb second half from the visitors saw them 29-27 ahead with less than five minutes remaining, before Cheetahs fly-half Fred Zeilinga slotted a late penalty to clinch the win.
The Force were off the mark first, with Ian Prior converting an early penalty, but the Cheetahs hit back with two tries.
The first came off a set move which saw Sergeal Petersen lunge close before being brought down. The forwards arrived in support and Paul Schoeman grabbed the ball at the back of the ruck and dived to touch down from close range.
The second try was created by an overlap down the right, with Uzair Cassiem the man to touch down in the corner. With Zeilinga missing the second conversion, the home side led 12-3.
The Force narrowed the gap to two points through a Kyle Godwin try which was converted by Prior, but the South Africans were able to add two further tries before the break.
From a lineout just inside the opposition 22m area, the Cheetahs set up a driving maul before the ball was sent to Clayton Blommetjies on the blindside, with the full-back racing clear to score.
The home side scored again immediately thereafter, when Cassiem wrong-footed the defence to burst up the left side of the field before passing to Teboho Mahoje in support. The flanker was tackled deep in enemy territory and the ball was recycled quickly and sent to the right, where Peteresen stepped inside the cover defence on the switch to stretch and score.
Zelinga converted Petersen's try and added a penalty in the final act of the first half to hand the Cheetahs a 27-10 lead going into the break.
The Force were a different side in the second half, with newly-capped Wallaby Dane Haylett-Petty scoring a superb individual effort in the 49th minute after ghosting through the Cheetahs cover defence following a kick ahead. Prior missed the conversion, but added a penalty minutes later.
Haylett-Petty then added another try at the beginning of the fourth quarter when he latched onto a kick ahead from Semisi Masirewa following a break down the right. Replacement Peter Grant missed the conversion to leave the Cheetahs 27-23 ahead with ten minutes remaining.
Grant made amends when he slotted a penalty in the 71st minute, and added another in the 73rd to hand the Force the lead with the game closing out.
The Cheetahs had a chance to hit back immediately when Petersen was hit high by Guy Millar and the prop was penalised, but the home side turned down the difficult kick in favour of an attacking lineout. The possession did not bear fruit, but when the Cheetahs were back on the attack with less than five minutes remaining Godwin was caught at the back of a ruck and penalised for not rolling away.
Zeilinga stepped up to hand his side the lead in the 77th minute.
Grant had an opportunity to steal the game when he lined up a shot at goal in the 79th minute, but he left the effort short to hand the Cheetahs a relieving win.