Friday evening the Cheetahs were stunned by a determined Pumas side who recorded a 29-28 victory in Bloemfontein to keep their semi-final dreams alive.

A last-minute penalty by the captain, Ruan Pienaar, could have secured the win for the Cheetahs, however, the last sailed past the righthand upright.

The Cheetahs got two vital points from the game by scoring four tries and for losing within seven points. This mean that they trail the Bulls by four points on the log, and the pointed difference between the two teams is just a single point.

This week the Cheetahs need to deny the Bulls any log-points to finish on top, while they will target a bonus point win.

The fact that the Bulls will be travelling to Dublin this week to face Leinster in the United Rugby Championship semi-finals will go a long way in helping the Cheetahs cause.

Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that they are motivated enough to set the record straight and finish at the top of the standings.

“It was back-to-back losses for us and that’s not great. We are still in with a chance - if we can get five log-points we can still finish ahead of the Bulls.

“It will be a tough ask and we have a lot of work to do.

“We conceded too many turn-overs and we were loose at the beginning of the game. We made some sloppy passes, conceded possession and we game the Pumas a sniff. They are a dangerous side with a very good backline and pack of forwards.

“We've got plenty of work to do, and we will do it.

“There is enough at stake for us to be really motivated and to make a big step-up in the next five to seven days.”

Saturday's big game at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 14:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport