The Cheetahs turned in a much-improved display at the Toyota Stadium to thump the Sharks 44-15 and thus secure a home playoff with still three games in the bank.

Victor Sekekete, Marnus van der Merwe, Cohen Jasper, Andisa Ntsila, Mihali Mosi and Chucky van der Westhuizen all scored as the Cheetahs booked a home semi with three games to spare.

Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that they also want to secure a possible home final.

“Only the Bulls can achieve more than 41 points,” said Fourie.

“We've got 41 on the log after this game. None of the other teams can reach that, I think the close will be 36 from Griquas or the Pumas.

“We've got a home semi-final which is nice, so the marketing guys can start doing their thing to make sure that we host a proper semi.

“Our goal remains to win the second round of the Currie Cup as well.

Fourie added that they will not rest players in their three remaining matches as they have their sights set on securing a possible home final as well.

“If there is one thing... we are well rested. We will defiantly not rest anyone. We haven't played a lot of rugby as we need to improve by at least 20 or 30%.

“If we are going into the semi-finals or final, we will probably play against full URC teams.

“As a team we know that there is still a lot of room for improvement as we will work hard towards that over the next four or five weeks towards that.”

The last time the Cheetahs made the playoffs was in 2019 when they won the Currie Cup for a sixth time.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport