Cape Town - A strong second half performance saw the Cheetahs come from behind to beat the Sunwolves 32-31 in their Super Rugby encounter at Singapore National Stadium on Saturday.
The Japanese team scored four first half tries to lead 28-13 at the break and threatened to pull off their first Super Rugby win.
The suspect Cheetahs defence was exposed early in the game, with Sunwolves wing Akihito Yamada scoring a hat-trick of tries.
The Sunwolves took a 31-13 lead early in the second half, but ran out of steam as the Cheetahs scored three more times to claim a one-point win and bag their first victory of the season.
In next weekend’s action, the Cheetahs face the Lions in Johannesburg, while the Sunwolves host the Rebels in Tokyo.
Scorers:
Sunwolves
Tries: Akihito Yamada (3), Shota Horie
Conversions: Tusi Pisi (4)
Penalty: Pisi
Cheetahs
Tries: Niel Marais (2), Uzair Cassiem, Boom Prinsloo
Conversions: Marias (3)
Penalties: Marais (2)
Teams:
Sunwolves
15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Akihito Yamada, 13 Harumichi Tatekawa, 12 Yu Tamura, 11 Yasutaka Sasakura, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Atsushi Hiwasa, 8 Edward Quirk, 7 Andrew Durutalo, 6 Liaki Moli, 5 Hitoshi Ono, 4 Timothy Vond, 3 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 2 Shota Horie (captain), 1 Keith Inagaki.
Substitutes: 16 Takeshi Kizu, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Shinya Makabe, 20 Yoshiya Hosoda, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Derek Carpenter, 23 Mifiposeti Paea
Cheetahs
15 Sias Ebersohn, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Reniel Hugo, 20 Hilton Lobberts, 21 Boom Prinsloo, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Fred Zeilinga