The Cheetahs’ first Pro14 appearance ended in a 42-19 defeat against Ulster in Belfast on Friday. MARIETTE ADAMS reports.
The visitors led 14-8 at one stage in the first half, but in the end the unfamiliar territory – literally and figuratively – was too much for the men from Bloemfontein to handle. They competed well at the set pieces, held their own in the aerial battle, but conceded two speculative yellow cards.
Ulster were a bit erratic and rusty early on in the contest, but once the nerves settled they made easy metres over the gainline and relentlessly attacked the Cheetahs’ tryline. Ulster’s lineout malfunctioned somewhat and John Cooney’s goal-kicking wasn’t great, but fortunately for the hosts it did not matter in this game.
Of the hosts’ South African contingent, loose forwards Marcell Coetzee and Jean Deysel, and wing Louis Ludik were in outstanding form. Coetzee’s performance will be particularly pleasing for coach Les Kiss because it was his first competitive game back from a lengthy knee injury.
The Cheetahs started eagerly and William Small-Smith had a chance to put them in front with a penalty in the third minute, but he missed the regulation kick, and soon after Cooney landed a penalty to get Ulster on the board.
The visitors did score the first try when Rosko Specman superbly fielded a high bomb and left three tacklers in his wake before passing the ball to Clayton Blommetjies on the inside for the try.
Ulster rebounded with a try from Tommy Bowe, but the Cheetahs regained the lead once again when a speculative kick by Ludik ricocheted off Mapimpi, who hacked the ball further upfield before beating Charles Piutau to plant a hand on the ball in the in-goal area.
Then a lapse in discipline and concentration cost the Cheetahs. Flank Henco Venter was sent off for a deliberate infringement, and from the lineout the Cheetahs stole possession back, but then lost control and lock Alan O’Connor scored. Cooney added the conversion to hand Ulster the lead, which they wouldn’t relinquish.
Stuart McCloskey and Piutau drove home Ulster’s advantage with a try apiece for a 27-14 lead going into half-time.
The Cheetahs weren’t as fluent and energetic after the interval. Ludik showed remarkable strength to power over the tryline despite drawing the attentions of three defenders. Cecil Afrika injected more pace into the Cheetahs attack and he pierced through the Ulster defence and freed up Sergeal Petersen for their third try.
But Ulster finished the game with a 10-point tally via a Cooney penalty and a self-converted try from replacement Peter Nelson.
The Cheetahs kept the ball alive well into stoppage time as they went in search of a four-try bonus point, but Ulster managed to see out the game without conceding again.
Ulster – Tries: Tommy Bowe, Alan O’Connor, Stuart McCloskey, Charles Piutau, Louis Ludik, Peter Nelson. Conversions: John Cooney (2), Nelson. Penalties: Cooney (2).
Cheetahs – Tries: Clayton Blommetjies, Makazole Mapimpi, Sergeal Petersen. Conversions: William Small-Smith (2).
Ulster – 15 Charles Piutau,14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Tommy Bowe, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Louis Ludik, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 9 John Cooney, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Chris Henry (c), 6 Jean Deysel, 5 Alan O’Connor, 4 Robbie Diack, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Kyle McCall.
Subs: 16 John Andrew, 17 Callum Black, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Matthew Rea, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Peter Nelson, 23 Darren Cave.
Cheetahs – 15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Clayton Blommetjies, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Charles Marais.
Subs: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Cecil Afrika, 23 Ryno Benjamin.
Photo: @Ulster/Twitter/DicksonDigital
