Cheetahs go down to Ospreys

Cape Town - The Cheetahs succumbed to their second heavy defeat of the season, going down 46-14 to the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.

The team from South Africa struggled to deal with the Ospreys’ attacking lineouts, and it took just seven minutes before Alun Wyn Jones slipped through a gap in the defence to open the scoring.

The Cheetahs levelled the score at a converted try apiece after Jasper Wiese crashed over in the 18th minute, but another move off a lineout nine minutes later sent George North through a gap in the defence. He was unable to go all the way, but Scott Otten finished off.

North finally got himself on the scoreboard in the 37th minute, finishing off a well-worked move in the Ospreys’ left corner. After a Sam Davies penalty on the stroke of half-time, the hosts went into the break 22-7 up.

It took until the 59th minute for the second half scoring to open, but at last, Alex Jeffries crashed over to secure the bonus point, with the formidable Ospreys lineout once again paying dividends.

Just four minutes later, the Ospreys’ lineout maul took them over for their fifth try, with Justin Tipuric getting the ball down.

69 minutes in, Rabz Maxwane chipped, chased, and went all the way for a superb Cheetahs try on the left, but it proved nothing more than a consolation as the Ospreys lineout maul took Tipuric over again before Jones crashed over to cap off a dominant display.

Scorers:

Ospreys:
Tries: Wyn Jones 2, Tipuric 2, Otten, North, Jeffries
Conversions: S Davies 4
Penalties: S Davies

Cheetahs:
Tries: Wiese, Maxwane
Conversions: Schoeman 2

Teams:

Ospreys

15 Dan Evans, 14 George North, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Tom Williams, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Aled Davies, 8 James King, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Nicky Smith

Substitutes: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 James Hook, 23 Joe Thomas

Cheetahs

15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 William Small-Smith, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes:  16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Walt Steenkamp, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ernst Stapelberg/Marnus van der Merwe, 23 Ryno Eksteen