Cheetahs flyhalf Siya Masuku went from villain to hero as a late penalty gave his side a dramatic 9-6 (3-3 half-time) win over Section Paloise (Pau) in a Challenge Cup match at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, Italy on Sunday night.
The final pool match for both sides was a straight knockout match, with the winner progressing to the last 16, while the loser collapsed, but a draw was also enough for Pau to sneak past the Cheetahs.
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So it went down to the wire, because the Cheetahs flank Friedle Olivier impacted an important turnover as the clock ran red, with Masuku then backing himself from a distance and a difficult angle to nail the perfect penalty to become the hero of the team.
It was a good turnaround for Masuku, who despite kicking three of the four penalties to take all the points, almost the villain of the piece has missed the touch of the third penalty in the second half.
That included just one minute into the game after the Cheetahs had won a breakdown penalty in the 22m that, needed to go up the field to the half of Pau and make a play to win, only for Masuku to miss a touch.
However, he will always be grateful to Olivier for making a big turn just seconds away to give him a chance to redeem himself, which he did in style.
The first half was an incredibly scrappy relationship between the two sides that seemed afraid of losing, and thus they could not string together any useful phase because both sides made a killing of errors.
However, the Cheetahs managed to lead in 23rd minute when Masuka converted a penalty to make him 3-0 up, only for Pau flyhalf Thibault Debaes relay six minutes later with one of his own to level the score.
Yellow card for Cheetahs eight Jeanndre Rudolph in 37Th minutes after several penalties then reduced to 14-men.
Both flyhalves had chances to claim more points in the final minutes, but Debaes narrowly missed a penalty after a yellow, and Masuku pulled his shot on target at the half-hour whistle with the sides pegging level.
The second half saw Pau take the lead for the first time in 47Th minute as Debaes slotted the second penalty.
The Cheetahs then looked for a try because they twice set up lineouts in the visitor’s 22m, but they tried to move the training ground with the first one that did not come off, when they were punished for sealing off the maul with the second as. they wasted both opportunities.
With time running out, the next time the Cheetahs received a penalty with a ranged kick, they went straight in, with Masuku leveling the scores at 68.Th minute.
That led to the drama of the final moments when the Cheetahs confirmed their place in the knockout stage, having entered the competition as an invitational team.
Goal scorer
Cheetah: Penalty – Siya Masuku (3)
Pau: Penalty – Thibault Debaes (2)