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Cheetahs grab bonus point at Zebre

rugby06 January 2019 16:17| © SuperSport
By:Brenden Nel
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Benhard Janse van Rensburg © Gallo Images

A brace of tries from midfielder Benhard Janse van Rensburg and a dominant second-half forward performance ensured the Toyota Cheetahs leave Italy with a full house of points after their 27-12 win against Zebre in the Guinness Pro14 on Sunday.

The battle of the two bottom teams in pool A proved to be an entertaining one, with the Cheetahs leading from midway in the first half, and ultimately proving too strong for the Italian team in the chilly air.

The win gives Franco Smith’s side some breathing space over the Italians at the foot of the log, and continues their dominance over them after beating them in Bloemfontein earlier in the season.

Had it not been for a double try blow before the break, the Cheetahs would have walked away with a better scoreline and were dominant up front and frustrated the Italians in the loose.

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Janse van Rensburg broke through the midfield midway through the first half to open the scoring and Rabs Maxwane followed him over a few minutes later after the Cheetahs attack drew the defence and looped a long pass to the winger to score.

It looked as if the Cheetahs were cruising and Maxwane sped down the touchline, looking for support to help him when he threw a blind pass to a Zebre player, who launched a counter attack that led to fullback Edoardo Padovani touching down at the other end of the field.

And then from the kickoff the Italians found space out wide again, this time midfielder Guilio Bisegni receiving a pass in field after a flurry down the touchline to even the scores up just before the break.

But the second half belonged to the Cheetahs as Janse van Rensburg again found space in the midfield to reach over and score early on, before the pack took control.

As the time wound down first reserve hooker Reinach Venter was at the back of a rolling maul that crashed over and then on the other side of the field Daniel Maartens made certain of the win with a similar try from the back of another devastating rolling maul.

SCORERS

Zebre – tries: Edoardo Padovani, Guilio Bisegni. Conversion: Carlo Canna

Toyota Cheetahs – tries: Benhard Janse van Rensburg (2), Rabs Maxwane, Reinach Venter, Daniel Maartens. Conversion: Tian Schoeman.

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