Mbombela cat-fight ends in draw

Cape Town - The Pumas and Free State Cheetahs played to a thrilling draw in their Currie Cup match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.

The scores ended 37-37 after the Cheetahs led 24-16 at half-time.

The Cheetahs scored five tries through wing Sergeal Petersen, No 8 De Wet Kruger, flank Oupa Mohoje, centre Francois Venter and replacement Freddy Ngoza. Flyhalf Sias Ebersohn added three conversions and a penalty while replacement Niel Marais was also on target with a penalty.

The Pumas replied with four tries of their own by flank Jaco Bouwer, and replacement forwards De-Jay Terblanche, Marnus Schoeman and Rudi Mathee. Flyhalf Justin van Staden was successful with all four conversions and three penalties.

Both teams picked up three points - two for the draw and one for scoring four tries or more.

In next weekend's final round of action, the Pumas host the Blue Bulls in Nelspruit (Friday, October 9 at 18:00), while the Cheetahs welcome the Sharks to Bloemfontein (Saturday, October 10 at 16:05).

Teams

Pumas

15 John-Wessel Bell, 14 Jerome Pretorius, 13 Hoffmann Maritz, 12 Stefan Watermeyer (captain), 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Jason-Colin Fraser, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Jaco Bouwer, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Frank Herne, 1 Corné Fourie

Substitutes: 16 Francois du Toit, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Rudi Mathee, 19 Marnus Schoeman, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Hennie Skorbinski, 22 Bernardo Botha

Free State Cheetahs

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 De Wet Kruger, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Reniel Hugo, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Neil Rautenbach, 1 Teunis Nieuwoudt