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Cape Town - Despite their home loss to the Brumbies, Cheetahs coach Franco Smith believes there were lots of positives to take from the match.
The Cheetahs went down 25-18 but scored 10 points late in the game to snatch a losing bonus point.
“I think we did well to keep the pressure on them. Two of the tries we conceded were unlucky but at least we are now creating our own luck and that’s a step in the right direction,” Smith told Netwerk24.
Smith was also pleased with his team’s lineout work.
“We decided to switch Lood de Jager and Francois (Uys) around a bit and I must say that Lood is a very good No 5 lock. Francois brought a lot of calmness. I want to see Lood concentrate on what he can bring to the game, rather than worry about making decisions.
“It worked and there were many lineouts. We won most of it in a good manner. I’m very excited about that. That was one of the statements we wanted to make and I’m chuffed with that.”
Smith also lauded his team’s fighting spirit.
“We have a lot of ability with ball in hand and our set pieces are looking good compared to last year. My main aim is to compare us to previous Cheetahs teams... so there is progress and from there we can compete with the rest.”
In their next assignment, the Cheetahs travel to Pretoria to face the Bulls on Saturday (19:15 kick-off).
