Cape Town – The Cheetahs have proved too strong for Edinburgh in a PRO14 match played in Bloemfontein on Friday evening, running out 33-13 winners after the visitors launched a spirited second half fightback.
The home side went into half-time with a 14-0 lead thanks to tries by Craig Barry and Rynier Bernardo with flyhalf Fred Zeilinga adding the extras.
After the break, however, it was the visitors who quickly got themselves back into the match with Jaco van der Walt landing a penalty in the 43rd minute followed by a converted try for scrumhalf Sam Hidalgo-Clyne just three minutes later to bring the score to 14-10.
Van der Walt then brought Edinburgh to within a point with his second penalty of the night as all the Cheetahs’ good work of the first half unravelled in just nine minutes.
Crucially, the Cheetahs were next to score when No 8 Junior Pokolema dotted down after a massive scrum from the homeside.
Zeilinga again added the extras for the Cheetahs to lead 21-13 in the 60th minute.
The home side put the result beyond doubt in the 73rd minute when winger Makazola Mapimp waltzed over for an unconverted try and comfortable 26-13 lead.
Another try followed on the stroke of full-time as replacement Tian Meyer scampered away for another converted effort to make the final score to 33-13.
The Cheetahs next face the Scarlets on December 2 in Bloemfontein while Edinburgh are up against the Southern Kings on December 1.
Scorers:
Cheetahs
Tries: Craig Barry, Rynier Bernardo, Junior Pokolema, Makazola Mapimpi, Tian Meyer
Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (4)
Edinburgh
Try: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Conversion: Jaco vd Walt
Penalties: vd Walt (2)
Teams:
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luther Obi, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Makazola Mapimpi, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Rynier Bernardo, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Hugo Reniel, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten Van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes: 16 Jacques du Toit 17 Ox Nche 18 Tom Botha 19 Jasper Wiese 20 Daniel Maartens 21 Tian Meyer 22 Tertius Kruger 23 Craig Barry
Edinburgh
15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Lewis Carmichael, 5 Fraser McKenzie (captain), 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Michele Rizzo
Substitutes: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Kevin Bryce, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Junior Rasolea
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