The Cheetahs led by 15 points to 7 at half-time and had to fend off a strong second half fightback by the Sharks.  The win leaves the Cheetahs with two wins from their first two matches in the group stages of Pool 1. Cheetahs captain Victor Sekekete said they were happy with the win.

"We knew that it was going to be hard, especially in the conditions that we faced today.  Both teams wanted it, but it was just a case of which team wanted it more.  We chased what we wanted to chase and we got the result, so it felt good at the end of the day" he said.

The Springbok-heavy Sharks side struggled to settle in the game and the loss will be another blow for the team who has lost six of their eight matches thus far.  They have only managed to win one of their seven United Rugby Championship matches and their opening Challenge Cup game against Pau last week. 

Marnus van der Merwe, Gideon van der Merwe, Daniel Maartens and Cohen Jasper scored tries for the Cheetahs with Ruan Pienaar adding three conversions and two penalties. For the Sharks there were tries by Eben Etzebeth, Francois Venter, Grant Williams and Makazole Mapimpi, with three conversions and a penalty by Curwin Bosch.

In the other Challenge Cup match played on Sunday, Montpellier Herault Rugby claimed a solid victory over Ospreys, beating them with 38 points to five.

The Cheetahs will only be in action again on the 14th of January next year, when they will take on Section Poloise at the NRC Stadium in Amsterdam. 

OFM Sport