13 Aug 2017

Gaborone Hogs stunned leaders BDF Cheetahs 43-22 in an action packed Super Rugby encounter played at SSKB Stadium on Saturday.

The victory strengthened Hogs’ grip on second place with 20 points after eight matches and condemned Cheetahs to their second league defeat of the season.

Hogs dominated the first half and scored an early try through Jeremy Babbage in the third minute.

But former Hogs backliner Eddie Oosthuizen set up right-winger Kabelo Sebabi for a try in the sixth minute and Oosthuizen made a conversion to give Cheetahs a 7-5 lead.

Ryan Musumhi replied with a penalty while Brighton Chinyanya finished off a good move with a try in the 22nd minute to give Hogs a 13-7 lead.

Musumhi, who was brilliant on the day, took advantage of hesitation within the Cheetahs ranks and plundered 10 more points from another try and conversion as well as a penalty to extend the lead to  23-7 at halftime.

Cheetahs temporarily reduced the deficit early in the second half with Oosthuizen scoring a try, but Chinyanya scored Hogs’ fourth try of the match to make the score 28-12.

Lovemore Jameson and Oosthuizen reduced the deficit again with a try, conversion and penalty.

However, Cheetahs’ hopes of mounting a comeback evaporated when Hogs scored an excellent try midway through the second half Roberto Phobe, while Musumhi scored a penalty, to extend the lead to 36-22.

Chinyanya exploited another glaring mistake and sealed a 43-22 victory with try while Musumhi made a conversion.

Hogs coach Louie Fourie was full of praise for his team after the victory. “This has been a long time coming. Hogs have been playing good rugby. The youngsters had stepped up today against a very competitive BDF team,” said Fourie.

Cheetahs coach Seabe Gabatladiwe, whose team is cruising at the top, attributed the loss to the fact that he fielded a weakened team.

“I rested eight senior players because we still have more matches to play, but we played well. The young players I fielded today have played well, I was happy with their performance,” he said. BOPA