Toyota Cheetahs 63
Ulster 26
Morgan Piek reports from Bloemfontein
THE WINGER ANTHONY Volmink, was the hat-trick hero for the Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday night as they beat Ulster 63-26 at the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in round two of the Guinness Pro14.
The Cheetahs taught the team from Belfast a lesson in running rugby as they ran in nine tries for their first-ever win over Ulster, and what was also their biggest victory in the Pro14.
The opening exchanges in the City of Roses were dominated by the Cheetahs who enjoyed the majority of the possession and it came as no surprise when they opened the scoring.
The big winger, Anthony Volmink, got the Cheetahs on the board in the 9th minute when he rounded off for his first try in the orange-and-white hoops. The Bloemfontein born-and-bred former Ulstermen, Ruan Pienaar, added the extra two.
The new man at the Cheetahs, Volmink, showed his class again in the 23rd minute with a couple of great steps to run in for a fantastic solo effort for what was his brace. The joy was short-lived as Ulster struck back minutes later when the former Wallaby lock, Sam Carter, crashed over for the score.
Rhyno Smith showed exactly why he played for the Springbok Sevens team on the HSBC World Series, by dancing his way over the line for a third try by the Cheetahs. Once again, Pienaar, added the extra two.
After sustained pressure, the Cheetahs got the bonus-point try when the hooker, Joseph Dweba, crashed over from a strong lineout-drive by the home team. This saw the men from Bloemfontein leading 28-7 at the break.
Three minutes into the second stanza, Volmink, intercepted an Ulster pass to stroll in for his hat-trick try. Not long after, the replacement loose-forward, Jasper Wiese, broke the line for a 60-metre sprint before off-loading to Smith for the fullbacks’ brace.
Junior Pokomela then stepped and darted to put Louis Fouché in space for the replacement centre’s try. This time, Tian Schoeman, converted the try as the captain, Pienaar, was replaced.
The Ulstermen managed to string together some good phases towards the backend of the game and this led to a try by James Hume. Sustained pressure resulted in Dweba being sin-binned, and from the penalty, David Shanahan managed to dart over.
The Cheetahs brought up 50 points when the replacement hooker, Reinach Venter, scored from a lineout drive late in the game. The replacements props, Boan Venter and Neethling Fouché, made an impact as they forced a penalty try minutes before full-time. Ulster did have the final say when the winger, Craig Gilroy, scored on the stroke of full-time for the bonus-point.
Cheetahs scorers:
Tries: Anthony Volmink [3], Rhyno Smith [2], Joseph Dweba, Louis Fouché, Reinach Venter, Penalty Try.
Conversions: Ruan Pienaar [6 from 6], Tian Schoeman [2 from 2].
Ulster scorers:
Tries: Sam Carter, James Hume, David Shanahan, Craig Gilroy
Conversions: John Cooney [1 from 1], Bill Johnston [2 from 3]
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Henco Venter, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Erich de Jager, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Sias Koen, 21 Jasper Wiese, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Louis Fouché.
Ulster: 15 Matt Faddes, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 James Hume, 11 Rob Lyttle; 10 Bill Johnston, 9 John Cooney, 8 Greg Jones, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Matthew Rea, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring (captain), 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Clive Ross, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Michael Lowry, 23 Louis Ludik.
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