Blues (14) 29 / Cheetahs (3) 22 (Final Score)
The Blues hosted the Cheetahs at Okara Park, Whangarei at 06:30 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Blues bagged 5 Log points, with the gutsy Cheetahs coming back hard at them with constructive attacking rugby after the Cheetahs played dumb helter-skelter rugby in the first half.
Scorers:
Blues: 3 Conversions & 1 Penalty Luke McAlister, 1 Try Joe Rokocoko, 1 Try Stephen Brett, 1 Try Peter Saili, 1 Try Isaia Toeava
Cheetahs: 1 Penalty Sias Ebersohn, 2 Conversions Naas Olivier, 2 Tries Sarel Pretorius, 1 Try Coenie Oosthuizen
Teams:
Blues: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Rene Ranger, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Stephen Brett, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Luke Braid, 6 Chris Lowrey, 5 Anthony Boric, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu (captain), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Tevita Mailau, 18 James King, 19 Mat Luamanu, 20 Chris Smylie, 21 Lachie Munro, 22 Benson Stanley.
Cheetahs: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14, Phillip Burger, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Wilmaure Louw, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Phillip van der Walt, 6 Kabamba Floors, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp (captain), 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 Lourens Adriaanse, 18 Isak van der Westhuizen, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Naas Olivier, Barry Geel.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Jonathon White (New Zealand), Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Teams run on , game starts in a minute
Helloooooooooooo
Welcome to the Toll Stadium in Whangerei for live coverage of the Super Rugby clash between the Blues and the Cheetahs.
Game ON!
Oi are we in for a thousand scrum penalties going for the Blues first and them at the end to the other team
2 Ranger makes ground in midfield before the ball is sent wide but Rokocoko can’t hold on to a wild pass and the Cheetahs will have a scrum.
1 The Blues have the first scrum after a turnover and they are awarded a penalty after Oosthuizen goes straight down at the hit. The Blues set up the attacking line-out.
Try Peter Saili?
TMO
Foot in touch, no try
6 Oosthuizen goes down again and the Cheetahs captain Steenkamp gets a word from the ref. The Blues go to Rokocoko and then Woodcock who crashes over the 22. They are winning quick ball and getting over the gain line well. They send it down the hands with some well timed passing and Peter Saili gets over in the corner but he had a foot in touch and the Cheetahs will have a line-out.
7 The Cheetahs go long at the line-out and Ebersohn clears it from the second phase. The Blues go to Braid in midifeld before Brett looks for territory. Rokocoko is chasing hard but it rolls into touch.
8 Ebersohn looks for some space with a chip behind the Blues backline but Toeava is there and he takes it into contact before they go down the hands but there is a handling error.
10 The Cheetahs go to Viljoen who hoists the ball but Toeava takes it well and they get it away to Ranger who finds some space in the Cheetahs 22. The ball is put into touch and the Blues are on the front foot here. The Cheetahs are up quickly in defence but the Blues are controlling it well as they go through the phases.
Blues doing all the attackking but after 10 minutes gone the Cheetahs defence has held well
11 Rokocoko holds on to the ball on the ground after getting isoloated and the Cheetahs find touch upfield.
@ grootblousmile:
The more i watch this game the more i see the need to stop the kicking and hold on to the ball. With the new way of throwing in quickly you dont gain with a great long touch finder. The Cheetahs were building up well until that cross kick.
13 They go to the front of the line-out and set up the maul but the Blues were waiting for them. They go to Viljoen who probes for space but Brett picks it up and has a run. Toeava spots some space and breaks up the middle of the field but he holds on to it for too long with support and the movement breaks down.
15 A solid scrum from the Cheetahs and Ebersohn boots it downfield. The Blues hold on to it and Meealamu finds some space near the left touchline. Brett loses the ball in the tackle but the Blues had advantage for the Cheetahs not rolling away in the tackle.
17 Luke McAlister misses the kick and there is still no score. The Blues come again, surely the Cheetahs can’t spend the whole game tackling like this? Brett looks for space in the 22 with a searching kick but his kick is returned with interest by Viljoen.
Try Joe Rokocoko
Blues 7 / 0
18 The Blues win back a high up and under by Mathewson and they immediately send it wide once they have the defence on the back foot. Stephen Brett hits a gap and bursts over the 22 and he gives it to the flying Rokocoko who is over in the left corner for the TRY. McAlister nails the touchline CONVERSION
22 Brett clears it but a Cheetahs player got a touch and the Blues will have the line-out. They go short and make good ground, they are winning quick ball and getting some good momentum. The Blues keep it close, driving around the fringes before they go wide but Toeava gets isolated and the Cheetahs can look for touch.
25 They go to Floors in midfield but the ball is turned over when Burger runs away from his support. The Blues break out with Brett kicking ahead and finding space on the right, he gets his jersey tugged before he reaches the ball but he manages to get his pass away. The Cheetahs win it back and set off upfield, running through the Blues in a great counter attack and Wilmaure Louw thinks he has scored but they will come back for the jersey tug, which was Louw in the first place.
Almost a Cheetahs try but the Linesman calls them back 80m for a deliberate jersey pulling… eish, would have been such a good try
26 The Blues maul it from the line-out but the ball is ripped and Viljoen clears it upfield.
Coenie Ooshuizen now penalised 3 times, this time warned that next time he’ll go to the bin
27 Brett kicks it to Burger who puts a horrible kick straight into touch and the Blues are on the front foot here. Toeava crashes it up but it is turned over again. The cheetahs look to counter but they can’t hold on.
30 Oosthuizen goes down again and he is told that the next time he will go to the sin bin. The Blues go to Rokocoko in centre field. Payne makes good ground as they storm into the 22. Ranger puts a little grubber through but it rolls into touch. The Cheetahs take it quickly and Ebersohn’s clearance is partially charged down. Ranger sets off on a good run, beating a couple of defenders and the Blues are on the front foot again.
Dink jy Steenkamp is Happy, ek hou van die NZ kommentaar, hulle is ware rugby mense, ek geniet hulle
Penalty Cheetahs, they take the tap… wrong decision, should have gone for goal
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