Clermont ……..27 Cheetahs …….22
THREE-TIME Challenge Cup winners Clermont held off a Cheetahs fightback to earn a place in the last eight.
Clermont No.8 and player of the match Pita Gus Sowakula said: “We were a little nervous at the end but we regained momentum at the right time. This competition offers a little more freedom in the game, which suits me well.”
The Top 14 side ran in three tries before the break from wings Joris Jurand and Bautista Delguy and hooker Etienne Fourcade. Fly-half Anthony Belleau contributed a trio of successful kicks – one penalty and a pair of conversions.
Replacement scrumhalf Baptiste Jauneau added a fourth try early in the second period to put the hosts up 27-3, with the French side seemingly having one foot in the quarter-final with 20 minutes to go.
However, the South African side made a game of it with three tries in the final quarter – replacement Sibabalo Qoma notching a brace plus a solo effort from full-back Tapiwa Mafura.
Scrum-half Ruan Pienaar kicked seven points from the tee.
The victory earns the French side a home match in the next round, with either Montpellier or Ulster set to visit the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region next weekend.
TEAMS
CLERMONT: Newsome, Delguy, Darricarrere, Heriteau, Jurand (Raka 69), Belleau, Bezy (c) (Jauneau); Beria (Bibi Biziwu 54), Fourcade (Yato 77), Slimani (Dzmanashvili 54), Simmons (Lavanini 73), Lavanini (Jedrasiak 47), Yato (Beheregaray 71), Fischer (Dessaigne 45), Sowakula
CHEETAHS: Mafura, Kasende (Kruger 67), Hartzenberg, Loubser, Nkula, Lourens (van Reenen 54), Pienaar; Ferreira (Tshakweni 45), van der Westhuizen, Coetzee (Victor 67), Wegner (Zito 67), Sekekete (c), Rudolph (van der Merwe 45), Mohoje, Olivier (Qoma 60)
REFEREE: ATTENDANCE: Sam Grove-White (Sco) 13,493
Star man Pita Gus Sowakula -Clermont
