This after the Cheetahs squandered a 24-0 lead following tries by Raymond Rhule, Torsten van Jaarsveld and the captain Francois Venter.

The two-time champions, the Chiefs, narrowed the lead to 10-points at the break thanks to a brace of converted tries by Toni Pulu.

In the second stanza the Cheetahs' only points came via the boot of Niel Marais with a penalty, while Tawera Kerr-Barlow, James Lowe, Shaun Stevenson and Hika Elliot all crossed the whitewash for the New Zealand visitors.

Following the match, the Cheetahs coach Franco Smith told OFM Sport that despite losing to a strong outfit there were a lot of positives.

“Our scrums were excellent, we drove very well, our lineouts were brilliant if you consider that we have two number four locks out there.

“That was a new plan and it worked well, it obviously wasn’t in my plan for us to concede the two tries in the first half.

 “We dominated in every area and it worked well.

“We always knew that they are going to score tries, you cannot take the threes’ against them because they are a team that score tries.

“If you look at the stats. If we went three, six, nine we would never have been in contention against them”.

The Cheetahs face the Bulls next week, who in their turn beat the Argentine outfit, the Jaguares 26-13 in Pretoria. In Cape Town the Lions beat the Stormers 29-16 and in Brisbane the Reds beat the Southern Kings 47-34.

Scorers:

Cheetahs: Tries – Raymond Rhule, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Francois Venter Conv. – Niel Marais 3 Pen.- Marais 2.

Chiefs: Tries – Toni Pulu 2, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, James Lowe, Shaun Stevenson, Hika Elliot Conv. – Aaron Cruden 3 Pen. – Cruden.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport