Cheetahs stoked and primed for tough Lyon challenge

The Cheetahs are stoked to still be in the Challenge Cup after a last gasp try at the death against Zebre secured them a thrilling win that keeps alive their hopes of making the competition knockouts for the third straight season.

However, a tough encounter stands in their way as they realistically need at least a win against French side Lyon in France, along with other results going their way, for them to make it to the last 16.

To make it to the next round the Cheetahs either need a bonus point win over Lyon without allowing them two losing bonus points, or a regular win without allowing the hosts any bonus point.

If they are unable to do that various permutations come into play and it could be a shootout between themselves, Lyon, Cardiff and USA Perpignan to see who qualifies.

The Cheetahs drew their opener against Perpignan, at their ‘home ground’ in Amsterdam, as being an invitational team they are unable to host games in South Africa unless they are playing against local opposition.

Bounce back win

They followed that up with a loss against Cardiff, but bounced back with a 22-18 win against Zebre, thanks to a last gasp try from outside back Cohen Jasper.

Coach Izak van der Westhuizen was thrilled with the result and admitted it was the perfect pick me up ahead of a tough final pool match.

“I said to the guys afterwards it’s our first win in Amsterdam, so it’s a big moment for us,” explained Van Der Westhuizen.

“We had a lot of disruptions in the lead up (to the match) with guys getting injured and others having to step in at short notice and we still managed to get the win in the end. I think that just goes to show the buy-in from the players and their willingness to fight right until the end.”

“This result will definitely give us confidence. I think it is going to be a very tough game (against Lyon). We are going to work through the injuries and niggles that we have and come up with the best possible plan.

“When it comes to these big games the guys make a step up. So hopefully that is what we are going to do and that is what we need this coming weekend.”

Improvements needed

Two parts of the Cheetahs game that they will be working hard on during the week are penalties and handling errors, after both almost cost them the result against the Italians, which would have knocked them out of the competition.

“Discipline is something we have spoken about already. I think it put us under a lot of pressure. So we will have to look at the areas and exactly where the penalties were given to make sure that we can fix it,” said Van Der Westhuizen.

“In terms of handling errors it definitely wasn’t the way we want to play. We created a lot of opportunities at the end, we would just be starting to build some momentum and the ball would go to ground. Which again puts us under pressure.

“So we will have to focus very hard this week (in training) to make sure that we cut down on those errors (against Lyon).”