Pumas book Currie Cup semi-final spot with resounding win over the Cheetahs

The visitors had absolutely no answer for a rampant Pumas outfit that knew it needed the win to make it to the final four, with the home side running in eight tries to the Cheetahs' four and leading the game from start to finish.

They set the tone for what was to come early on, with Sango Xamlashe scoring the opening try of the game in just the fifth minute, before adding a second 12 minutes later when Chyle van Zyl bundled over the line behind a driving maul to race out to a 14-0 lead.

The Cheetahs fought back with a Carel-Jan Jooste try in the 24th minute, but the Pumas had an answer for that too, with Andre Goedhals crossing the whitewash soon after to restore their lead despite being down to 14 men at the time.

Van Zyl added a second try moments before half-time to put the Cheetahs in a commanding 28-7 lead at the break.

The Cheetahs had a glimmer of hope by bursting out of the blocks with a 44th-minute Stefan Venter try to reduce the deficit, but it didn't last long as the Pumas hit back almost straight away through JJ Scheepers try.

Lock Tiaan de Klerk scored before Scheepers added his second try of the game as the Pumas raced to a 45-14 lead with 20 minutes left on the clock.

However, things got a bit more complicated for the home side in the 64th minute when Darren Adonis was shown his second yellow card of the game, which resulted in a 20-minute red card meaning they would finish the match with just 14 players on the field.

The Cheetahs made the most of their advantage with a couple of tries through Daniel Maartens and Michael Annies to earn themselves a bonus point for scoring four times, but the hosts still managed to have the final say on the day with Ntsika Fisanti scoring late on to take the score to 52-26 and round out a dominant win.

The bonus point sees the Cheetahs hang on to their second place in the Currie Cup standings and means the two sides will meet again in the semi-finals next week.