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Cheetahs maul Lions

Welkom -  A sorry season for the Lions came to a sorry end as they added another unwanted record to their Super 14 list in going down 59-10 to the Cheetahs at the North West Stadium in Welkom on Saturday.

Running in six tries in the first half and scoring another three after the break against a side that could do little right and hardly had 30 percent of the possession, the Cheetahs also leapfrogged the Chiefs on the log. They finished 10th on the log with five wins - their best performance yet since the Cats concept was shelved and the Cheetahs started playing as an independent franchise in 2007.

The Lions, conversely, increased their negative points difference to 315. It is a new record to add to the 81 tries conceded in this year's Super 14 series and 14 consecutive losses - all 13 in the 2010 competition plus the last match last season against the Waratahs.

Little can be said about the match as such other than that the Cheetahs ran and handled very well; that the Lions defence was at times non-existent; their handling and ball control poor and their discipline hardly better; and that the Lions were completely outplayed in literally every facet of the game.

To add to the Lions' woes, their caretaker skipper Wikus van Heerden left the field in the first few minutes with a shoulder injury. His replacement Jonathan Mokuena was perhaps the Lions' best forward of the encounter.

Three players, Bjorn Basson, Man of the Match Sarel Pretorius and Hennie Daniller - each scored two tries. With the score at 26-3 a much larger final score seemed on the cards, but some replacements took the edge off the Cheetahs attack and the Lions also competed a little better in the second half when they won a little more ball.

Cheetahs:
15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Bjorn Basson, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Meyer Bosman/Corné Uys, 11. Corné Uys/Wilmaure Louw, 10. Naas Olivier, 9. Sarel Pretorius, 8. Philip van der Walt, 7. Juan Smith (captain), 6. Hendro Scholtz, 5. Barend Pieterse, 4. Izak van der Westhuizen, 3. WP Nel, 2. Skipper Badenhorst, 1. Wian du Preez

Substitutes: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Coenie Oosthuizen, 18. Waltie Vermeulen, 19. Davon Raubenheimer, 20. Marnus Hugo, 21. Louis Strydom, 22. Riaan Viljoen

Lions:
15. Carlos Spencer, 14. Tonderai Chavhanga, 13. Marius Delport, 12. Jaco Taute, 11. Deon van Rensburg, 10. Herkie Kruger, 9. Jano Vermaak, 8. Derick Minnie, 7. Franco van der Merwe, 6. Wikus van Heerden (captain), 5. George Earle, 4. Nico Luus, 3. Ross Geldenhuys, 2. Charles Emslie, 1. JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16. Hannes Franklin, 17. Gert Muller, 18. David Bulbring, 19. Jonathan Mokuena, 20. Jacques Coetzee, 21. Michael Killian, 22. Bernardo Botha
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