They were by far the best team throughout the competition, so justice was done in Bloemfontein on Saturday as the Free State Cheetahs clinched their fifth Currie Cup title with a 36-16 win over the Blue Bulls.
In a championship decider marred by a number of handling errors from both teams, the Cheetahs’ greater desperation was the difference in the end as they dominated possession and territory with a passionate display in front of a capacity 43 400 crowd at the Free State Stadium.
Flyhalf Niel Marais was the hero for the home side, slotting a new Currie Cup record of seven penalties, with Bulls No 10 Tian Schoeman replying with three of his own.
But it was far from just a kick-fest as both tries attempted to continue with their positive attacking style of play that got them into the final in the first place. From the opening minute, both teams had a full go with ball-in-hand and never let up.
Once Marais and Schoeman had exchanged a few early kicks to take the score to 9-6 to the Cheetahs after 13 minutes, the inroads made by the home side with ball-in-hand and excellent tactical kicking from fullback Clayton Blommetjies forced the Bulls into making endless tackles.
The pressure was just too much on defence as the Pretoria side conceded a number of penalties inside their half, and Marais knocked over three more for an 18-9 halftime lead.
While the Bulls fielded the bigger pack, it was the likes of lock Reniel Hugo, flank Uzair Cassiem and hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld who took the fight to the opposition with powerful carries and huge hits in defence.
Man of the Match Cassiem and Van Jaarsveld were also prominent with the ball, maintaining continuity and assisting speedsters Raymond Rhule and Sergeal Petersen out wide.
And it was fitting that the outstanding Petersen was the catalyst for the opening try after an hour of play as he grabbed an intercept inside his own 22, found Francois Venter on his inside, and the skipper kept his cool to send Blommetjies over in the corner.
Replacement flyhalf Fred Zeilinga booted over the touchline conversion, and at 28-9 behind after 64 minutes, the Bulls were never going to come back into the match.
Even though Bulls reserve No 9 Piet van Zyl got a consolation five-pointer in the closing stages, Petersen rounded things off with aplomb as he received a final pass from Zeilinga, who had wrong-footed the Bulls defence to break the line.
Cheetahs coach Franco Smith can bask in the glory of a revolution in Free State rugby, having addressed the defensive problems of the past and added even further bows to their attacking game to end the season with 10 out of 10 victories.
The party will go on long into the night in Bloemfontein, and the title is the ideal springboard for Super Rugby next year.
POINTS-SCORERS
Free State Cheetahs – Tries: Clayton Blommetjies, Sergeal Petersen. Conversion: Fred Zeilinga (1). Penalties: Niel Marais (7), Zeilinga (1).
Blue Bulls – Try: Piet van Zyl. Conversion: Joshua Stander (1). Penalties: Tian Schoeman (3).
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