Last-gasp penalty sees Cheetahs draw with Griquas in topsy-turvy Currie Cup clash

The Cheetahs, thanks to a last-gasp penalty after the final hooter by veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar drew their Currie Cup clash 29-all with Griquas on Saturday in Bloemfontein.

Griquas would have thought they had done enough to secure victory thanks to the accurate boot of flyhalf Lubabalo Dobelo as well as two tries, but Pienaar stepped up to slot a 45m penalty in the 81st minute to tie things up. 

The Cheetahs were the first side on the scoreboard thanks to an unconverted try from flanker Sibabalo Qoma which gave them a 5-0 lead as early as the 8th minute.

Griquas, however, responded with a penalty from flyhalf Dobelo in the 11th minute, followed by a converted try just three minutes later by flanker Janco Uys for a 10-5 lead.

That was extended in the 20th minute when Dobelo made no mistake from the kicking tee as he landed another penalty for a 13-5 lead to the visitors. 

The Cheetahs hit back through a Cohen Jasper try, converted by Pienaar to cut the Griquas' lead to 13-12 with 15 minutes left in the half. 

The match continued its back-and-forth nature as Dylan Sjoblom scored a converted try for the visitors before Dobela landed another penalty to push Griquas' lead out to 23-12 just before half-time.

The Cheetahs, however, hit back just before the break thanks to a converted try from Marnus van der Merwe that saw the teams into the shed at 23-19 

A try for Gideon van der Merwe, converted by Pienaar, gave the Cheetahs a 26-23 lead after 51 minutes, but Dobela tied things up at 26-all in the 56th minute as he landed another penalty. 

Another Griquas penalty, this time by replacement George Whitehead, put the visitors into a 29-26 lead in the 71st minute.

Evergreen Pienaar, however, kept his cool as he made Griquas pay for a