Seven-try Cheetahs smash Glasgow Warriors

The Toyota Cheetahs continued where they left off in their Currie Cup form as they stormed to a massive 48-14 victory over last season’s Guinness Pro14 finalists Glasgow Warriors in Bloemfontein on Friday night.

The Cheetahs were facing a depleted Warriors side – missing 12 Scottish internationals and four other players at the Rugby World Cup – and made their home-ground advantage count as they scored seven tries to two on a warm evening that produced heated rugby.

Two tries apiece by hooker Joseph Dweba and fullback Rhyno Smith were the highlights as Junior Pokomela, Ruan Pienaar and Sias Koen all got their names onto the scorecard to cap a perfect start to the competition for the Bloemfontein side.

The Cheetahs dominated both setpieces and possession, with the Warriors missing a massive 41 tackles on the evening, with no answer to the wave of momentum that washed over them on the night.

Pienaar opened the scoring after a dash by Smith opened space and a lucky bounce went into the veteran scrumhalf’s hands but that was quickly overshadowed by a bullocking run by Dweba to pound 30 metres to score.

Smith got his first shortly afterwards and Dweba added a second from a lineout maul to see the Cheetahs 24-7 up at the break.

The Cheetahs got stronger in the second half as they dominated play. Only a try by Robbie Nairn gave the visitors anything to smile about.

Smith’s second, plus some solid finishing by Pokomela and Koen, capped an evening where the Cheetahs looked more than solid.

They now have the best start to the competition they could have hoped for, and with the World Cup players gone for a little while still, the Cheetahs will need to capitalise – as they did on the night – to grab a few scalps while they can.

SCORERS

Toyota Cheetahs –tries: Ruan Pienaar, Joseph Dweba (2), Rhyno Smith (2), Junior Pokomela, Sias Koen. Conversions: Pienaar (5). Penalty: Pienaar

Glasgow Warriors – tries: Nick Frisby, Robbie Nairn. Conversions: Brandon Thomson (2).