Cheetahs clinch the Currie Cup

Spiteful Final ends in glory for Drotske

Naka Drotske and Os du Randt added those elusive Currie Cup winners medals to their Rugby World Cup and Tri-Nations trophies when the Cheetahs beat the Blue Bulls 29-25 in a dramatic Final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The victory ends a 29-year drought for the Bloemfontein side, and it is only the second time that the Cheetahs (formerly Free State) had won South Africa's premier domestic trophy. The Cheetahs' only other win came in 1976, when they were still know as Free State.

It was a fairytale come true for Drotske, who goes into retirement, and Du Randt, who is also unlikely to be part of any future Currie Cup campaigns.

And while few had given Rassie Erasmus' Cheetahs any chance of upsetting the mighty Bulls at fortress Loftus, Erasmus now has the rare distinction of having won the Cup in his first season as coach.

But for Bulls captain Anton Leonard it will be a Final that will leave a sour taste as he goes into retirement on a losing note.

In rugby terms it was not a classic Final. It was a very spiteful game, with referee Jonathan Kaplan repeatedly warning players for their over-robust play. And three yellow cards are enough proof that this was not a pretty affair.

There was plenty of drama, even some involving a Blue Bulls official, physio Basil Carzes, running onto the field.

But in the end most critics will agree that the Cheetahs, because of their sheer bravery and determination, deserved the win.

Not only did they outscore the Bulls by two tries to one, but they also took the chances that came their way.

The Cheetahs were down 22-9 and 25-12 (13 points) going into the final 15 minutes before scoring a penalty and two converted tries to win the game.

As for the Bulls. They were decidedly off key, not taking their chances - such as not kicking penalties at goal and then messing up the line-outs - and they also conceded far too many penalties ... a clear lack of discipline.

For them it was always going to be one of those games that were there for the taking, but which they ultimately let slip away.

The first score came after just two minutes, when Eddie Fredericks failed to collected a ball out of the air and it was played from an offside position by a teammate. Morné Steyn easily slotted the penalty for a 3-0 lead.

Two minutes later the Bulls almost scored again, when Wynand Olivier put a kick through and Bryan Habana followed up. But the Bulls' Bok winger failed to control the ball in the ingoal area.

Steyn had another long range shot in the seventh minute, but that drifted wide. But in the 10th minute he slotted his second penalty, after Cheetahs prop Jannie du Plessis was pinned for punching.

But Cheetahs fly-half Willem de Waal pulled one back a few minutes later when the Bulls went offside close to their line. The next score also went the way of the Cheetahs, when the Bulls were pinned for slowing the ball down at a ruck and De Waal levelled the scores after 22 minutes.

However, a Johan Roets drop-goal two minutes later - after the Cheetahs had successfully stopped a Bulls maul and turned over the ball, only for De Waal to kick the ball straight down Roets' throat - saw the Bulls back into the lead.

But the ding-dong nature of the game continued with another successful De Waal penalty, but not before veteran Os du Randt made a surprise appearance on the field. He had been brought onto the bench shortly before kick-off and after 25 minutes made his appearance in the Final and then set off on a bullocking run that created the pressure in which the Bulls gave away the penalty.

Du Randt's next major contribution was earning a yellow card for retaliating when Victor Matfield charged forearm first into him. Matfield joined his Bok teammate (but Currie Cup Final opponent) in the sin bin for 10 minutes in what was a very childish bit of play by both.

A couple of minutes after this the Cheetahs gave away another penalty and Steyn slotted it. With the half-time siren going soon afterwards, the Bulls took a slender three-point lead (12-9) into the break after a half that produced no clear try-scoring opportunities.

The Bulls had an early chance at scoring in the second half, but centre JP Nel lost control of the ball as he dived for the try-line.

Du Randt and Matfield returned to the action and then CJ van der Linde joined the action to leave the Cheetahs with an all-Springbok front row.

The first real crucial play came in the 48th minute, when Willem de Waal threw a terribly poor pass and Akona Ndungane intercepted and raced 70 metres downfield for the first try of the match.

Steyn slotted the conversion and a penalty a few minutes later to suddenly put daylight between the Bulls and their opponents - 22-9.

And when De Waal missed a very easy penalty three minutes later, things started looking very bleak for the brave Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs fly-half did eventually manage to narrow the gap, with another penalty in the 56th minute - but  the gap was still 10 points, 22-12.

The game then turned ugly when the Blue Bulls physio, Basil Carzes, ran onto the field to join a scuffle between two players - which was a disgusting display, regardless of his intentions. It prompted the Cheetahs reserves to run onto the field and referee Jonathan Kaplan was forced to give a stern talking to not just the physio but also both captains.

It had little effect as two minutes later Bryan Habana was yellow carded for a high tackle and the referee had now clearly lost his patience.

The Bulls appeared to make the game safe when Derick Hougaard - on for Morné Steyn - slotted his team's fifth penalty as the spiteful nature of the game got out of hand.

The touch judges were now just as often involved in the play as some of the players, as they flagged foul play and offences - with one of those resulting in a penalty for the Cheetahs which De Waal slotted

And then suddenly the Cheetahs came back into it, as they started throwing the ball around and out on the right wing Bevin Fortuin found space and raced over for his team's first try. The conversion was good and the gap was just three points - 25-22.

But then came more high drama, as the Cheetahs mauled and then kicked ahead. Two Bulls - Fourie du Preez and Johan Roets - ran into each and the ball bounced free. Meyer Bosman collected and raced over for a crucial try. The conversion made it 29-25 to the Cheetahs ... and there was just five minutes left on the clock.

The Cheetahs then hung on desperately for the final few minutes as the Bulls launched several raids.

But in the end the Cheetahs celebrated a fine win ... maybe not the prettiest, but nobody will begrudge them.

Man of the match: Maybe this one should go to 22 brave Cheetahs, but in this regard Naka Drotske epitomised what his team stood for and he gets our man-of-the-match vote.

Moment of the match: In terms of the match it has to be that last try, when Meyer Bosman raced over in the 75th minute, which ultimately won the match. But there were so many twists and turns in the game that you pick any one of a host of incidents.

Villain of the match: It was a rather spiteful final, one of the more brutal in recent memory and many players put their hands up for this award. Three of them went to the bin. But we are giving it to the Blue Bulls physio, Basil Carzes, who saw fit to run onto the field and disgrace himself.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:
Try: Ndungane
Con: Steyn
Pens: Steyn 4, Hougaard
DG: Roets

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Fortuin, Bosman
Cons: De Waal 2
Pens: De Waal 5

Yellow cards: Victor Matfield (Blue Bulls, 36), Os du Randt (Cheetahs, 36), Bryan Habana (Blue Bulls, 65)

The teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Johan Roets, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JP Nel, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Anton Leonard (captain), 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 6, Jacques Cronjé, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Andries Human, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Kees Lensing.
Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 Wessel Roux, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Johan Wasserman, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Derick Hougaard, 22 Riaan van der Bergh

Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Eddie Fredericks, 13 Chris Kruger, 12 Barry Goodes, 11 Phillip Burger, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ryno van der Merwe, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Corniel van Zyl, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Naka Drotskè (captain), 1 Wian du Preez
Replacements: 16 Ollie le Roux, 17 Os du Randt, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Falie Oelschig, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Alwyn Hollenbach

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (SARU)
Touch judges: Mark Lawrence (SARU), JC Fortuin (WP)