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Boan Venter (Gallo Images)
- Continued uncertainty about the Cheetahs’ future casts doubt on their ability to replenish departing players, but Boan Venter’s performance at Loftus provides hope.
- The lazy and stocky was excellent at scrums and showed the franchise’s continued habit of digging up promising players.
- Coach Hawies Fourie, however, admits that injuries are causing a crisis in lineouts.
As the Cheetahs contemplate and absorb a continuing exodus of players and coaching staff, it’s easy enough to wonder how and if the franchise will be able to effectively fill the gaps.
In the gloom, Bloemfontein’s men had a little ray of sunshine that emerged from last weekend’s 13-40 loss to the Bulls at Loftus in the form of Boan Venter and, to a lesser extent, Khutha Mchunu.
The initial two struts were feisty and competitive in providing their opponents with some stamina.
Venter, 23, a 1.87m, 118kg mountain man with his head loose, was particularly impressive at the time of the scrum, making life a pittance for Marcel van der Merwe, the Springbok header from the Bulls, and then also made teammate Trevor Nyakane initially uncomfortable.
He didn’t keep up that effort as the Cheetahs team’s effort faltered badly at halftime, but his performance suggested that for all its troubles, the core franchise will invariably unearth new gems.
“Yeah, that was pretty much the only thing I was satisfied with in this game,” said Hawies Fourie, the Cheetahs head coach.
“The scrum work was really good. The fact that we forced the Bulls to replace Marcel after 33 minutes was a feather in our limit.
“Boan did a good scrum, but it was also a collective effort. Unfortunately, we awarded a scrum penalty early in the second half that seemed to take the wind out of our sails, but I really think Boan and Khutha can be very satisfied with their performances. “. “
In contrast to how well Fourie’s supports have responded to the injury problems at that position, a crisis is brewing in the second row.
The Cheetahs lost five lineouts to the Bulls’ unbridled and annoying set as the lack of specialized jumpers began to affect them.
“I think it’s a mix of technical and personnel issues,” Fourie said.
“We have many injuries that affect very good jumpers in our squad such as Junior Pokomela, Oupa Mohoje, Aidon Davis and Reniel Hugo. It is difficult to face without the lack of specialists to get quality possession and when we are under pressure, the situation. it gets worse. ”
