Africa-Press – South-Africa. In spite of a lack of competitive game time in the lead-up to their first match of the EPCR Challenge Cup this season, somehow the Cheetahs managed to outclass Zebre Parma to get their campaign off to a good start.
The Cheetahs made light work of Zebre, defeating them 33-15 at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Italy on Saturday. The men from Bloemfontein scored three tries through Reinhardt Fortuin, Cohen Jasper and Louis van der Westhuizen while Zebre’s two tries came from Alessandro Fusco and Simone Gesi.
With the way Zebre have performed in the United Rugby Championship (URC), showing great improvement, some would have expected the South Africans to have a difficult time in Parma.
Also, t the Cheetahs came into this meeting lacking crucial game time as they were last involved in competitive rugby at the beginning of October.
That was when they played Australian side Western Force in the Toyota Challenge, playing a total of four matches against each other from August 25.
Rustiness was still visible in the Cheetahs’ game as the men from Bloemfontein conceded too many penalties in the match and they had their tighthead prop Laurence Victor being sent to the naughty chair deep into the first half for not rolling on 28 minutes.
Despite that, the Cheetahs made the most of any opportunities they got in the match, which is why they led 16-3 at the halftime break against a side that has been playing URC in the build-up to the Challenge Cup.
There were good performances from Cheetahs players such Jeandre Rudolph, Tapiwa Mafura and the evergreen former Springbok Ruan Pienaar.
In the game, the Cheetahs never missed a chance to build scoreboard pressure as Pienaar scored three penalties in the first 40 minutes, with his first coming in the third minute.
The impressive part of the game for the Cheetahs was that they managed to score 10 points while they were one man down.
It was at that point they scored their try through winger Jasper, who intercepted a Zebre pass and went all the way to score on 35 minutes.
Zebre’s only points in the first half were from a penalty by Tiff Eden on the half-hour mark.
The South Africans made a strong start to the second half as Reinhardt Fortuin went over for the second try of the match.
Van der Westhuizen’s 61 minutes try put the Cheetahs in the driving seat.
Efforts of a comeback were too late for the hosts who scored their two tries in the dying stages of the match through Fusco and Gesi.
SCORERS
Cheetahs (16) 33 Tries: Reinhardt Fortuin, Cohen Jasper, Louis van der Westhuizen Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (3) Penalties: Pienaar (4)
Zebre (3) 15 Tries: Alessandro Fusco, Simone Gesi Conversion: Gerónimo Prisciantelli Penalty: Tiff Eden
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