The Cheetahs opened their Carling Currie Cup Premier Division campaign with a 29-27 win over the Lions at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday, surviving a hat-trick from Lions debutant centre Likhona Finca and a frantic finish to hold on by two points.
The eight-try contest, which the Cheetahs led 16-13 at the break, changed hands multiple times before a last-gasp tryline knock-on by Lions wing Rabz Maxwane ended the visitors' hopes of completing the comeback.
Finca, 22, announced himself on debut by scoring three times — twice in the second half — and his hat-trick score with 10 minutes remaining handed the Lions a 27-26 lead. But the Cheetahs, steadied throughout by Faf de Klerk, ultimately found a way through, with a Jaco van der Walt conversion after Cohen Jasper's 68th-minute try giving the home side the margin they needed.
De Klerk, back in South African domestic rugby, was central to the Cheetahs' most decisive passages of play. His ninth-minute break from a centre-field ruck set up hooker Marko Janse van Rensburg's opening try from a five-metre driving maul, and his 56th-minute kick to the corner from a midfield ruck created the platform for captain Victor Sekekete to burrow over and restore the home side's lead at 21-20.
Flanker Ramon Uys added a try after pilfering a lineout ball following a scrum penalty, with Van der Walt converting and adding two penalties. Jasper, whose loose inside pass gifted Lions fullback Latica Nela a try on the stroke of halftime to make it 16-13 at the break, partially redeemed himself with his try after 68 minutes, set up by inside centre Zander du Plessis.
Nela's score was one of the match's more chaotic moments — the Lions had initially knocked on near the posts, seemingly surrendering any chance of scoring before halftime, but the Cheetahs' decision to run rather than kick to touch backfired when Jasper's pass was intercepted by lock Dylan Sjoblom, who found the unmarked Nela in space.
Sam Francis kicked two penalties and a conversion for the Lions, who will reflect on Maxwane's final-play knock-on as the decisive moment in a match they had the chances to win.