Cheetahs 29 Western Force 14
The Cheetah’s Bjorn Basson scored a brace of tries as the Force bumbled their way to a defeat in Bloemfontein last night.
They looked every bit a bottom of the table team with their lack of ball security a major issue as they succumbed to Cheetah’s pressure.
Every one of the Cheetah’s four tries was caused by either a Force mistake or poor execution with a subsequent turnover. Unfortunately one of the main offenders was Force debutant Justin Turner.
His inexperience was cruelly exposed on a number of occasions (especially at the back of the scrum) and this resulted in at least two of the tries.
I’d imagine he’d be feeling rather dispirited but the reality is he’ll be better player for the experience and his talent is obvious.
The Cheetahs were operating on a different level than we’ve seen over recent times and with now two consecutive wins, a third is in the offing when they take on the Lions next week.
Apart from a Ryan Cross try in the 20th min, the first half was dominated by a rampant Cheetahs who used their backline to its fullest to attack from everywhere.
In a sensational start to the match, a poor Turner pass to David Hill’s bootstraps was spilt and jumped on by Man of the Match, scrumhalf Sarel Pretorious. A great offload to Naas Olivier saw him sprinting 35m to score.
Next up, Pretorious pressured Turner at a Force defensive scrum 5m out from their line and in the subsequent fumble picked it up and dived over (14-0).
The Cheetahs were using their forwards to attack in pods and this proved effective in drawing in the defensive screen.
Cross’s try came in the 20th min and was actually the first opportunity the Force had had in the match to attack in the Cheetah’s red zone.
Who needs Izzy? In the 24th min Olivier put up the bomb and Bjorn ‘Super Trouper’ Basson tore after it and soured high Cazaly-like to snatch the pill from a waiting Nick Cummins.
As he sprinted off to score under the poles Cummins was left bemused with a ‘that ball’ expression that Mike Gatting would have been proud of….
But wait, that’s not all. In a ‘Mamma Mia, here I go again’ moment, the Force made another error on attack in the Cheetahs 22m. The ball ended up with fullback Hennie Danilla, who compensates for his lack of agility by possessing the biggest boot in world rugby. He’s the Roger Gould of the Super 14 (in torpedo terms at least).
He hammered the pill to the other end of the park and Bjorn took off like a Springbok. The only Force player challenging was Nathan Charles, who possesses a fair turn of pace for a front ranker.
Charles sort of won the sprint (he had a Stawell Gift-like head start) but couldn’t control the ball. Bjorn picked it up and scored…..and the winner takes it all.
Halftime 26-7. The Force actually had most of the possession in the half but couldn’t really get any momentum going over the gain line.
In the 2nd half the Cheetahs closed it down a bit and gave the ball plenty of air. Unfortunately, the Force kicking game was poor in comparison and every time the aimless kicks landed in Daniller’s arms it ended up in touch on the wrong side of halfway and beyond. Man, can he hoof that ball!
The Cheetahs scored another try by replacement Demas in the 63rd min but it was disallowed due to some foul play. A penalty by Olivier finished the Cheetah’s scoring at 29 points.
Despite lots of trying (and making lots of mistakes) the Force only had a David Pocock try (it looked like Matt Hodgson) to speak of – a quick tap taken 5m out.
The stats said the Cheetahs spent 62% of the game in the Force half and that probably sums it up, although interestingly they made double the number of tackles (107) than their opponents. Plenty of possession to the Force in the 2nd half but the Cheetahs defence was just rock solid.
For the Force, David Pocock was outstanding. He had the most carries on the day and tackled himself to a standstill. His loose forward partners (Brown and Hodgson) were also productive, as was Nathan Sharpe.
Mitch Inman was the pick of the backs in a day when they all looked a bit ordinary. Inman was a hard man to stop with ball in hand and did a lot of link work. Rabbit O’Connor tried a bit too hard to spark a revival but there was just no way through.
Tucky Dunning got on for his 100th Super 14 match but it’s not one that will bring too many happy memories flooding back.
For the Cheetahs, Juan Smith was a tower of strength and led by example. Scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius was a deserved MOTM and I really liked the look of young Philip Van der Walt at eighth-man.
The Force were very disappointing in Bloemfontein considering some of their sterling efforts over recent matches. It was all over by halftime and you could hear the drums, Fernando….
Wallaby Watch
Put his hand up: David Pocock. Bam is head and shoulders over most other No 7’s in the country and was just so dominant in this game.
Did himself no favours: Justin Turner. Its early days in his career so I wouldn’t worry too much about it but had a ‘Barry Crocker’ behind the scrum.
Bolter watch: Mitch Inman. Reminds me a little of Lachlan MacKay(currently at Brive) with his big, loping running style. He’ll develop into something special.
