We were licked by better team: Venter

Francois Venter, who skippered the Cheetahs on Saturday, has conceded the Highlanders were the better team.

Francois Venter, who skippered the Cheetahs on Saturday, has conceded the Highlanders were the better team.

Published May 17, 2015

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Johannesburg – Following their poor performance which yielded a 45-24 defeat at the hands of the Highlanders in their Super Rugby match at Free State Stadium on Saturday, the Cheetahs conceded they were beaten by a better team.

Francois Venter who captained the Cheetahs as regular skipper Francois Uys failed a late fitness test paid tribute to his better drilled opposition.

“It’s very disappointing for us,” said Venter.

“We didn’t expect it, but all credit to the Highlanders. They outplayed us today and put us under a lot of pressure. Especially in the set-pieces.”

A rampant Highlanders outfit made a mockery of a poor Cheetahs defence as the visitors ran in seven tries on the evening.

The winner of the contest began to shift into focus in the early exchanges as the Highlanders secured the bonus point for four tries inside the first 30 minutes of the match.

Highlanders fullback captain Ben Smith said his charges had been well prepared for the clash.

“I think our lineout went really well, we trained really well through the week. We know if we put that preparation in it will come out in the game,” said Smith.

“Every game is important, we as the Highlanders enjoy travelling.”

Though the Cheetahs ran in three late tries, the result was never in doubt as the Kiwi team proved too dangerous on attack for the Free State outfit to handle.

Venter, however, maintained his side had not had the rub of the green which exaggerated the dominance of the visitors on the night.

“Hopefully we can turn this [type of performance] around,” said Venter.

“They started well, things didn’t go our way. Every bounce went their way as well. We must go look at the points from this match and go start training again.” – ANA

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