Bloemfontein - The Vodacom Blue Bulls' atypical Absa Currie Cup struggles continued as they needed a brilliant Louis Fouche' touchline penalty to salvage a 22-22 (halftime 9-12) draw against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Fouche' showed excellent composure as he put two crucial missed kicks behind him and nailed a long-range penalty, five metres from the touchline after the final hooter to snatch a share of the spoils from an extremely physical, intense contest.

The Bulls looked down and out when Fouche' hacked a very kickable penalty wide in the 70th minute to leave the visitors 12-22 down.

But just three minutes later, young Francois Venter, who had a fine game at inside centre, burst straight through the middle of the Cheetahs defensive line and then showed good pace to gallop 30 metres for a crucial try.

Fouche' converted to close the gap to 19-22 and the Cheetahs will be disappointed that they then allowed the Bulls back into their territory, via a kick that went long and over the dead-ball line. From their scrum, the Bulls were quick to drive the ball forwards and they caught the Free Staters offsides, leading to the Fouche' kick that will be remembered for a long time in his household.

While Fouche' claimed the late glory, his opposite number, Johan Goosen, underlined what a fine talent he is with a dominating performance that seemed to have secured victory for his team.

Goosen set up the Cheetahs' try and succeeded with all six of his kicks at goal via a conversion and five penalties.

Bulls flank Warwick Tecklenburg, penalised for hands in the ruck, provided the first shot at goal for Goosen in the fourth minute (3-0).
Four minutes later, Goosen eased over an astonishing 60-metre penalty effort (6-0), but Fouche' replied 15 minutes later with a mountainous kick of his own from his own half (6-3).

But the Bulls betrayed the desperation of their Currie Cup situation with crucial lapses in discipline and handling errors, and Goosen was able to slot another penalty in the 26th minute (9-3).

An excellent Bulls scrum six minutes before halftime earned Fouche' his second penalty (9-6), but two minutes later, Goosen kicked another penalty (12-6) after lock Flip van der Merwe was yellow-carded for repeat offences.

Van der Merwe's penchant for picking up yellow cards must be an extreme concern for both him and the Bulls, and partly explains his absence from the World Cup.

The Bulls had the last say before halftime, however, via another Fouche' penalty (12-9). Free State conceded a free kick for an early engage at a scrum and the Bulls were given an extra 10 metres as prop Coenie Oosthuizen held on to the ball. Scrumhalf Jano Vermaak then shot off with the ball, catching the Cheetahs offsides.

The Cheetahs scored first after halftime as Goosen's fine break, admittedly through a massive gap in the Bulls' defence, set up replacement lock Wilhelm Steenkamp for their only try (19-9).

The Bulls will be ruing the fact, however, that moments before they were on the Cheetahs line, with a penalty advantage, before fullback Zane Kirchner fouled wing Cameron Jacobs in the air after Fouche' had tried a crossfield kick. The penalty was reversed and the home side quickly roared back on to attack.

Free State were penalised for collapsing a maul in the 57th minute, but Fouche' missed the kick and would be wayward again in the 70th minute.

Fine ball-carrying by Wynand Olivier, playing in the unaccustomed outside centre position, allowed Fouche' to quickly make amends with a 60th-minute penalty (19-12).

A super run by Oosthuizen, always so handy with ball in hand, earned a penalty for the Cheetahs three minutes later, which Goosen stroked between the poles (22-12).

At that stage, the Cheetahs seemed to be winning all the key battles but it was perhaps crucial that Goosen, who quite rightly won the man of the match award, went off the field with cramp after that kick.

The Bulls showed excellent determination to claw their way back, but the draw still leaves them under extreme pressure in the Currie Cup, five points behind the Cheetahs in fourth place.

For the Free Staters, the draw means they are probably out of contention for a home semi-final, trailing second-placed Western Province by seven points.

Scorers

Toyota Free State Cheetahs - Try: Wilhelm Steenkamp. Conversion: Johan Goosen. Penalties: Goosen (5).

Vodacom Blue Bulls - Try: Francois Venter. Conversion: Louis Fouche'. Penalties: Fouche' (5).

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Philip Snyman, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Pieter Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe

Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Philip Burger

Blue Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouche, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Jurgen Visser