Currie Cup - Cheetahs vs Lions on 12 December 2020



December 12, 2020 - The match was played in Bloemfontein on Saturday 12 December 2020, kick-off was at 16:30 SA Time.

The Lions were caught offside at a ruck on the halfway line early in the match, and Tian Schoeman kicked the penalty to put the Cheetahs 3-0 up after just 2 minutes. Four minutes later Frans Steyn made it 6-0 when he kicked a long range penalty from inside his 10 metre line, the kick judged to be about 64 metres in length.

Elton Jantjies scored the first points for the Lions, also from a penalty, to make it 6-3 after 10 minutes.

Tian Schoeman then kicked another penalty, before the Lions scored the first try of the match. It came from a ruck close to the Cheetahs try-line, Warner passed to Tshituka, who was tackled and another ruck formed, and Warner was able to get the ball quickly and passed to Willem Alberts, who crashed over the try-line with the help of Orie and Dan Kriel. Jantjies converted to make it 10-9 for the Lions after 27 minutes. Jantjies added another penalty before the break, to make the halftime score 13-9 for the Lions.

Early in the second half the Lions scored one of their classic running rugby tries, it came from a ruck inside their ten metre line, Warner passed to Jantjies standing deep, just outside his 22 metre line, he passed to Visagie, who was under pressure from Blommetjies, who shot up in defense, but he got the pass away to Dan Kriel, who had Jaco Kriel and Courtnall Skosan on his outside, and just Tian Meyer to defend in front of him. Dan Kriel got the pass away to Jaco Kriel, who then turned on the pace and when he got tackled inside the Cheetahs ten metre line, got the offload away to Warner on his inside who ran the last 30 metres to score in the left corner. This put the Lions up 18-9 after 42 minutes.

Five minutes later the Lions scored another great try, it came from a ruck on the Cheetahs 22 metre line, Warner passed to Jantjies, who had forwards defending in front of hime, he took them on and got past Wegner, but Groenewald just managed to stop him, but he still got the ball away to Alberts on his outside. Alberts was in space, with just Blommetjies in front of him, he drew the defender and passed to Warner on his inside, who scored under the post. Jantjies kicked the conversion to put the Lions in a 25-9 lead.

The next Lions try was very similar, also from a ruck in about the same spot as the previous try, but Warner passed to Tshituka, who passed to Sithole in the tackle, and when he was tackled just 5 metres from the line, got the ball away to Jannie du Plessis, who scored. Jantjies added the conversion to put the Lions in a 32-9 lead after 50 minutes.

Reserve Scrumhalf, Ruben de Haas, then scored the first try for the Cheetahs, but the Lions answered with another one from close range, this time by Marvin Orie.

The Cheetahs had the last say in the match, when Marnus van der Merwe scored from a maul, this was 10 minutes from the final whistle, and with no more points in the match, the Lions won 39-23.

Officials

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
AR1: AJ Jacobs
AR2: Aimee Barrett-Theron
TMO: Jaco Peyper

Teams

Cheetahs: 15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. William Small-Smith, 13. Howard Mnisi, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Malcolm Jaer, 10. Tian Schoeman, 9. Tian Meyer, 8. Jeandré Rudolph, 7. Aidon Davis, 6. Andisa Ntsila, 5. Carl Wegner (capt), 4. Ian Groenewald, 3. Khutha Mchunu, 2. Jacques du Toit, 1. Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16. Marnus van der Merwe, 17. Cameron Dawson, 18. Erich de Jager, 19. Reniel Hugo, 20. Victor Sekekete, 21. Ruben de Haas, 22. Reinhardt Fortuin, 23. Dries Swanepoel.

Lions: 15. Tiaan Swanepoel; 14. Stean Pienaar, 13. Wandisile Simelane, 12. Dan Kriel, 11. Courtnall Skosan; 10. Elton Jantjies (Capt), 9. Andre Warner; 8. Len Massyn, 7. Vincent Tshituka, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Marvin Orie, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Jaco Visagie, 1. Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16. Jan-Henning Campher, 17. Dylan Smith, 18. Ruan Dreyer, 19. Reinhard Nothnagel, 20. Wilhelm van der Sluys, 21. Roelof Smit, 22. Morné van den Berg, 23. Manuel Rass.

Scorers

Cheetahs: 23 (9): Tries: Ruben de Haas, Marnus van der Merwe. Conversions: Tian Schoeman, Frans Steyn. Penalties: Tian Schoeman(2), Frans Steyn.

Lions: 39 (13): Tries: Willem Alberts, Andre Warner(2), Jannie du Plessis, Marvin Orie. Conversions: Elton Jantjies(4). Penalties: Elton Jantjies(2).

“Forwards win games, backs decide by how much.”