The Cheetahs were made to work hard for their narrow 31-26 victory over the NMMU Madibaz in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
It was a second-string Cheetahs side which faced the Varsity Cup outfit from the Eastern Cape, and they were pushed all the way in a tight encounter.
The home side managed to score four tries against the Bloemfontein franchise, which will be a massive confidence boost ahead of their Varsity Cup campaign.
However, the Cheetahs managed to do just enough to secure a tense victory in the end, as they ran in five tries to edge the Madibaz.
Wings Cornal Hendricks, Rayno Benjamin and Raymond Rhule all crossed the whitewash, with forwards Johannes Prinsloo and Caylib Oosthuizen also getting their names on the scoresheet.
Utility back Riaan Smit was playing at flyhalf and slotted three conversions to hand the Cheetahs a victory, although they by no means had everything their own way.
The scorers:
For NMMU:
Tries: Ngam, Barnard, Cloete, Bernardt
Cons: Allerston, Haupfleisch 2
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Prinsloo, Hendricks, Oosthuizen, Benjamin, Rhule
Cons: Smit 3
Teams:
NMMU: 15 Jarryd Buys, 14 Yamkela Ngam, 13 Michael Bernardt, 12 Steven Hansel, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Gavin Hauptfleisch, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Wade Elliott, 6 Marcel Groenewald, 5 Stefan Willemse, 4 Louis Fourie, 3 Dexter Fahey, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Roy Godfrey (captain).
Replacements: Unknown
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Piet Lindeque, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Riaan Smit, 9 Inus Kritzinger, 8 Johannes Prinsloo, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Carel Greeff, 5 Rynhardt Landman, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Nico van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Hilton Lobberts, 21 Kevin Luiters, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Raymond Rhule.
I never read too much into warm-up game results.
Will be interesting though, to know how the Cheetahs go against the Southern Kings on the weekend, considering it will almost be the “real deal Cheetahs” playing.
To quote a certain Springbok coach: “winning is the same as losing, only winning feels better.”
Not good to read some of the Bulls players are struggling with niggles and need to have “their work load managed” at the moment. Arno Botha and Morne Mellet have back problems and David Bullbring hassle with shoulder. Wish these guys all the best in getting over them and hope they are ready for Super rugby kick off, just concerned about the match fitness of The Bulls for first few games.
Vodacom cup coach Nollis Marais has named his team to play Valke on Friday-
The Vodacom Blue Bulls team is: Damian van Wyk, Keegan Gordon, Daniel Kriel, Leighton van Wyk, Marcus Kleinbooi, Tony Jantjies, Lohan Jacobs, Clyde Davids, Christiaan de Bruyn, Heinrich Viljoen, Schalk van Heerden, Irne Herbst, Wilco Louw, Corniel Els, Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: Jan Enslin, Neethling Fouche, Piet-Louw, Strauss, Nqobisiwe Mxoli, Jean Droste, Corne Cooper, Rudi van Rooyen, JP Smith, Lood de Jager, Marquite September.
Kick-off: 15:00, Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park
Referee: Pro Legoete
4 @ Bullscot:
Marquite September, who is on the bench was still at school last year, Garsfontein, he must have some talent to be elevated this quick will be interested to hear how he progresses.
4 @ Bullscot:
So LOTS of Rugby at Barnard Stadium on Friday.
The Lions v Leopard games have been moved there from Ellis Park due to pitch problems at Ellis Park. Lions games are at 17h00 nad 19h00.
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