The Cheetahs picked up their second win of the season with a 47-38 victory over the Hurricanes in a fast and furious Super Rugby match at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.
A frenetic first half which resulted in eight tries scarcely faltered in the second spell, although the Hurricanes’ barrage of long-range attacks dried up and tries were few and far between.
With the scores tied 32-32 at the break, the difference between the two teams was the more cohesive forward effort from the Cheetahs over the second 40 minutes.
The Hurricanes had a dream start, showing excellent ball retention in working through phase after phase before hooker Dane Coles burst through onto a flat TJ Perenara pass and sidestepped his way over.
Coles featured in the Hurricanes’ second try, ripping the ball off Cheetahs No.8 Philip van der Walt five metres from his own line.
Elusive fullback Andre Taylor broke clear down the right before Beauden Barrett shrugged off some ineffective Cheetahs tackling to touch down.
In between, the Cheetahs pulled one back through second five-eighth Andries Strauss, before the Hurricanes surged ahead with two tries in three minutes to Taylor and halfback Perenara.
Ahead 32-11 with 10 minutes until halftime, the Hurricanes’ support play and speed on the counterattack fed off a steady supply of turnover ball as the Cheetahs struggled to convert their dominance in possession and territory into points on the board.
But three tries in the closing seven minutes hauled them back into the game.
Fullback Hennie Daniller and wing Rayno Benjamin crossed in quick succession, then loosehead prop Coenie Oosthuizen crashed over from a quick penalty tap and Johan Goosen added the extras to make it 32-32 at halftime.
The Cheetahs reduced their handling errors in the second, and the Hurricanes had to battle mightily for scraps of possession.
It took nearly 20 minutes before they managed to establish any field position, but they couldn’t take advantage.
In contrast, the Cheetahs made the most of their territorial advantage, and wrapped up the win with tries to props WP Nel and Oosthuizen.