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Malcolm Jaer (left) and Rosko Specman (Gallo).
the Cheetahs were unbridled in their opening game of Super Rugby Unlocked, hammering the Pumas 53-31 at Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The hosts naturally entered the contest more imagined than their opponents, but no one would have expected them to run on five attempts in the first 30 minutes to effectively end the match as a competition before halftime.
The Cheetahs would score a total of eight attempts on the day after taking a 41-3 they led to the break and were dominant in most respects.
Their backs, in particular, were impressive and seemed to have acres of space every time they moved the ball.
To their credit, the Pumas improved a lot in the second half, but the damage was done.
Malcolm Jaer scored after just one minute of action, then claiming a hat-trick in the afternoon, while his wingmate and Sevens legend Rosko Specman fought his way to two attempts himself.
Specman looked ready to score his try triplet after the halftime horn was blown again, but instead of completing the try, he threw the ball to his right where Ruan Pienaar was waiting to gather and splash under the posts.
By then, it had already become a training exercise for the hosts.
Specman did not return for the second half after suffering a mild hamstring strain, but the Men in Orange picked up where they left off when replacement William Small-Smith left shortly after the restart.
Pumas scrum-half Ginter Smuts pounced on a loose ball to give his team a much-needed try and a sudden injection of points, but the quality difference between the sides in the first half meant we were never likely to return. to see a Pumas rally. in the game even after the Cheetahs emptied their bank.
The visitors, however, scored another three tries in the final quarter of the match.
Frans Steyn, who debuted for the Cheetahs, was also impressive with his timing and cornering, while also setting up a try with a skilled grubber.
Meanwhile, SA Rugby has told the Cheetahs that they will not be playing in a planned expansion from PRO 14 to PRO 16 next year.
They host the Bulls on Friday, October 16 as the Pumas travel to Kimberley to face Griquas.
Scorers:
Cheetahs 53 (41)
Attempts: Malcolm Jaer (3), Pokomela Junior, Rosko Specman (2), Ruan Pienaar, William Small-Smith
Conversions: Pienaar (5)
Penalty: Pienaar
Cougars 31 (3)
Attempts: Ginter Smuts, Daniel Maartens, Le Roux Roets, Neil Maritz.
Conversions: Eddie Fouche (4)
Penalty: Fouche
Teams:
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Charles Marais Substitutes: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Chris Massyn, 21 Aidon Davis, 22 Tian Meyer , 23 William Small-Smith
Pumas
15 Devon Williams, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 12 Ryan Nell (captain), 11 Neil Maritz, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Kwanda Dimaza, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Ruan Kramer, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Morgan Naudé.
Substitutes: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Liam Hendricks, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Jeandré Rudolph, 21 Dian Badenhorst, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Ruwellyn Isbell
