The Cheetahs claimed a commanding 68-14 bonus-point win over Griquas in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The top-of-the-table clash was expected to be a closely fought affair between the only two unbeaten sides in the competition. But the Cheetahs were met by so little resistance from Griquas that they had effectively secured the result by the midway mark.
Griquas initially applied all the pressure, but the Cheetahs defence held firm before tries by Junior Pokomela, Henco Venter, Joseph Dweba and William Small-Smith pushed them out to a 28-point lead.
Griquas would go on to bag two tries in the second half, but they couldn’t prevent the Cheetahs from scoring a flurry of tries. Dries Swanepoel and Rabz Maxwane got in on the act for the Cheetahs while Dweba and Small-Smith completed their respective braces.
Swanepoel and Louis Fouche then completed the rout with late scores to send the Cheetahs to the top of the log.
FS Cheetahs – Tries: Junior Pokomela, Henco Venter, Joseph Dweba (2), William Small-Smith (2), Dries Swanepoel (2), Rabz Maxwane, Louis Fouche. Conversions: Tian Schoeman (6), Fouche (3).
Griquas – Tries: Eduan Keyter, Ederies Arendse. Conversions: George Whitehead (2).
FS Cheetahs – 15 Darron Adonis, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (c), 8 Henco Venter, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Reinach Venter, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Marnus van der Merwe, 21 Gerhard Olivier, 22 Dian Badenhorst, 23 Louis Fouche.
Griquas – 15 George Whitehead (c), 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Eduan Keyter, 12 Andre Swarts, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Neill Jordaan, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Johan Momsen, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 2 AJ Le Roux, 1 Khwezi Mona.
Subs: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Mox Moxili, 18 Victor Sekekete, 19 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Chriswill September, 21 Michal Haznar, 22 Grant Hermanus, 23 Ruan Kramer.
Photo: @CheetahsRugby/Twitter
