The Free Staters handled the challenging conditions better, winning the tactical kicking battle whilst also being far more clinical than their hosts with ball in hand to open up a 16-point lead.
A fightback by the Durbanites made it a one-point game after 50 minutes, but the class and composure of the Toyota Cheetahs, coupled with costly errors by the hosts, saw Hawies Fourie’s charges pull away to consolidate their position at the top of the table.
The Cell C Sharks will rue their slow start and the slew of basic mistakes that made them their own worst enemies. They also turned down a number of kickable penalties as they slumped to a second successive defeat.
A pinpoint up-and-under and excellent contesting by Daniel Kasende gave the visitors an attacking scrum inside the 22, where Dian Bleuler was blown up. Captain Ruan Pienaar, who’d missed his first attempt at goal, split the posts to open the scoring in the 10th minute.
Fellow Springbok legend Frans Steyn stepped up to slot two vintage long-range penalty goals to put the Toyota Cheetahs up 9-0 after the opening quarter, the first the result of an excellent bit of counter-rucking and the second following a collapsed scrum.
Things went from bad to worse for Etienne Fynn’s men when Clayton Blommetjies and Cohen Jasper combined from deep to leave defenders scattering before Andisa Ntsila skinned Joaquin Diaz Bonilla with fantastic footwork and had the pace to go over for a cracking try. Pienaar, who marshalled his team with aplomb, added the conversion to take the score out to 16-0.
The Cell C Sharks’ fighting spirit then came to the fore with Argentinian international Bonilla opening their account with a 33rd-minute penalty goal before Fez Mbatha made amends for an off day with his lineout throwing by rumbling over for a converted try from a driving maul to ensure they trailed by just six points at the break.
The Toyota Cheetahs’ discipline declined at a rapid rate during this bad patch for the visitors and saw them go down to 14 men eight minutes into the second half when replacement prop Conraad van Vuuren was yellow-carded for collapsing a driving maul.
The Cell C Sharks went right back to their rolling thunder and crashed over for their second try, replacement hooker Dan Jooste dotting down. Bonilla was unsuccessful with the difficult conversion, meaning the Toyota Cheetahs hung on to a narrow one-point lead.
Pienaar, who went on to be named Champion of the Match, was able to stem the tide with his second penalty goal of the evening, eating up valuable time as he made it 19-15 and a vital breakdown penalty by halfback partner Siya Masuku in his 22 allowed them to see out the remaining moments of Van Vuuren’s time in the bin without conceding further points.
Once the Toyota Cheetahs were back to 15 men, the momentum swung back in their favour and they scored a maul try of their own through Louis van der Westhuizen, which gave them some breathing room again at 24-15.
There was to be no fightback from the Cell C Sharks this time as a dreadful mistake by Bonilla saw ever-present Gideon van der Merwe hack a loose ball ahead and win the race to the line to score a five-pointer that wrapped up the result with nine minutes to go.
The Toyota Cheetahs pushed for the bonus-point try, which never came, but the Free Staters will nevertheless be thrilled with their big win away from home.
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks 15 (10) – Tries: Fez Mbatha, Dan Jooste. Conversion: Joaquin Diaz Bonilla. Penalty goal: Bonilla.
Toyota Cheetahs 29 (16) – Tries: Andisa Ntsila, Louis van der Westhuizen, Gideon van der Merwe. Conversion: Ruan Pienaar. Penalty goals: Pienaar (2), Steyn (2).
