Ruan Pienaar Cheetahs Currie Cup

Griquas put on a superb second half attacking display to defeat the Sharks in a high-scoring affair in Kimberley on Sunday. Photo by Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images

Tough weekend in the PRO14 for South African sides

The Cheetahs and the Southern Kings each suffered heavy defeats in the latest round of PRO14 action.

Ruan Pienaar Cheetahs Currie Cup

Griquas put on a superb second half attacking display to defeat the Sharks in a high-scoring affair in Kimberley on Sunday. Photo by Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images

Both South African sides in the PRO14 had a tough time out in Ireland, each coming out on the wrong side of heavy margins.

Poor first half costly for Cheetahs

The Cheetahs were out in Dublin, where they lost 36-12 to defending champions Leinster, while the Southern Kings were recepients of a 68-3 thrashing from Munster at Cork Park.

Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie bemoaned a poor start from his side.

“We came back well in the last 30 minutes and performed really well in that period, and we controlled a certain aspect of our game (the scrums) and put a lot of pressure on them. But the first half just wasn’t good enough in the conditions,” said Fourie. “We didn’t start well.

“In the first half we were playing with the wind but we couldn’t use it because we had very little ball, and Leinster played most of the game in our 22.

“We resisted the pressure initially but in the last 20 minutes of the first half they scored 22 points and that killed us.”

Hawies Fourie

Boan Venter and Aidon Davis provides the tries for the Cheetahs, with Ruan Pienaar slotting over one conversion while Leinster ran in five tries to register a convincing victory.

Fourie hailed the Irish giants for the manner in which they starved his side of chances.

“They are probably the best team in Europe at the moment, and it showed,” he added. “We have a lot of work to do before our next game against Ulster if we are going to come right in these conditions.”

Hawies Fourie

Elsewhere, the Kings could only get on the scoreboard through a penalty.

Coach Robbie Kempson was left to rue how his side failed to hold on to possession.

“Unfortunately it happens week in and week out,” the former Bok prop said. “Maybe in certain areas we either have to adapt our personnel or the way we want to play the game. We want to be more expansive but at this juncture we are not getting that right.”

He added; “It was very frustrating to see the discipline again being a problem, as we were a yellow card down within the first 10 minutes.

“It is small things we are not doing well. We are not managing the things we can control, and when you cough up the ball to a very strong team like Munster it is fatal.

“But credit to Munster. They have one of the best attacking flyhalves, they were outstanding with their pace on the ball and very strong with ball in hand.”

Robbie Kempson

The Kings travel to Wales for their next match, away to the Scarletts, while the Cheetahs remain in Ireland to take on Ulster.