Cheetahs showed they can mix it with the best – coach Fourie
With their second win in the new domestic competition the Free State side have again shown they can, and should, compete against the best teams in South Africa.
Rosko Specman has been one of the stars of the Cheetahs campaign so far. Picture: Gallo Images
The Cheetahs’ morale-boosting win over the Bulls in Bloemfontein at the weekend was a triumph for Free State rugby in general.
Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie believed their 19-17 Super Rugby Unlocked victory showed they could compete against the big four sides, even though they almost let it slip.
“It was an incredible performance if one thinks of all the negative things that happened to us, as well as the bad news that the team received recently (losing their place in the Pro14 competition),” Fourie said.
Having lost captain Ruan Pienaar after 15 minutes with a knee injury, the hosts had to dig deep.
A scan yesterday, however, indicated that Pienaar’s injury might not be as serious as first feared.
“The team really responded well and Tian Meyer did a great job after replacing Ruan,” said Fourie.
“Junior (Pokomela) took over the captaincy for the next 65 minutes and made good decisions.”
With 19-6 lead going into the last 20 minutes, the Cheetahs almost let it slip and only a late missed conversion from replacement flyhalf Chris Smith denied the Bulls a draw.
“We knew that we could win this game. We backed ourselves and were never in doubt,” said Fourie.
“Although it was close in the end, there were a few opportunities and turnovers in the first half that we didn’t finish which kept them in the game.
“But we kept our composure and luckily for us Chris missed that last conversion.”
Bulls coach Jake White said he was really proud of how his side came back after staring down the barrel late in the game.
“But the work-on for me as a coach is to ensure that we don’t concede as many penalties as we did,” White said.
“A guy like Chris Smith missed that conversion and I am not knocking him but he is going to have to be in that situation again.”
White, however, gave much credit to the Cheetahs and believed they would be one of the teams to watch out for in the competition.
“We were up against Frans Steyn and he is one of the best players in the world, but the Cheetahs have a great record at home and they will be tough to beat in Bloemfontein,” said White.
The Cheetahs sit at the top of the points table with nine points from their two-from-two record, and this week face the Lions at Ellis Park at 4.30pm on Saturday – their hosts so far winless in the competition.
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