Cape Town - The Free State Cheetahs held their nerve to clinch a nail-biting victory against the Pumas in their Currie Cup encounter at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Friday evening.
The Cheetahs won 33-32, after trailing 15-12 at half-time.
The home side ran in five tries through Zee Mkhabela, Cecil Africa, Reinach Venter and a brace from Robbie Petzer. Meanwhile, Petzer also landed four conversions.
The Pumas scored four tries through Frankie Herne, Jerome Pretorius, Willie Engelbrecht and Justin Van Staden.
Kobus Marais landed three conversions and two penalties for the visitors.
This win leaves Free State second in the Currie Cup standings with 30 points, while the Pumas sit fourth on the log with 24 points.
In Week 12 of the Currie Cup action, the Cheetahs will travel to Kimberley to take on Griquas on Saturday, September 30, while the Pumas have a bye next weekend.
Scorers:
FS Cheetahs
Tries: Mkhabela, Africa, Venter, Petzer (2)
Conversions: Petzer (4)
Pumas
Tries: Herne, Pretorius, Engelbrecht, Van Staden
Conversions: Marais (3)
Penalties: Marais (2)
Teams:
FS Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 114 Vuyani Maqina, 13 Ali Mgijima, 12 Lloyd Greeff, 11 Cecil Afrika, 10 Robbie Petzer, 9 Zee Mkhabela, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Chris Dry (captain), 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Erich de Jager, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Gert Coetzee
Substitutes: 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Andrew Kuhn, 18 Jeremy Jordaan, 19 Nicolaas Immelman, 20 JP Smith, 21 JW Jonker, 22 Stephan janse van Rensburg
Pumas
15 Justin van Staden, 14 Jerome Pretorius, 13 Gerrit Smith, 12 Hennie Skorbinski (captain), 11 Ruwellyn Isbell, 10 Kobus Marais, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Brian Shabangu, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Frankie Herne, 1 Kwezi Mona.
Substitutes: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Fancois Kleinhans, 20 Hilton Lobberts, 21 Theo Maree, 22 Selom Gavor