The Cheetahs fought back from 21-7 down to beat the Kings 36-21 in a Super Rugby warm-up match in Port Elizabeth.
Outside centre Ronnie Cooke scored an early try for the Kings, with flyhalf George Whitehead slotting the conversion. Hooker Adriaan Strauss then went over for the Cheetahs and flyhalf Johan Goosen's conversion levelled the scores after 13 minutes.
The Kings scored another converted try, through Sivwe Soyizwapi, and the fullback touched down again in the 34th minute to make it 21-7.
Then came the Cheetahs' fightback.
Flanker Jean Cook scored just before the break, with Goosen missing the conversion. The flyhalf left the field early in the second half and was replaced by former King Shaun Venter.
Cook scored his second from a lineout driving maul and Raymond Rhule's try put the Cheetahs ahead 22-21 with 13 minutes to go.
The visitors then wrapped up the game with two tries, from Lappies Labuschangne and Boom Prinsloo, which Elgar Watts converted.
Kings – Tries: Ronnie Cooke, Sivwe Soyizwapi (2). Conversions: George Whitehead (3).
Cheetahs – Tries: Adriaan Strauss, Jean Cook (2), Raymond Rhule, Lappies Labuschagne, Boom Prinsloo. Conversions: Johan Goosen, Elgar Watts (2).
Kings – 15 Sivwe Soyizwapi, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Dwayne Jenner, 11 Michael Killian, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Jaco Grobler, 8 Devin Oosthuizen, 7 Rynier Bernardo, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Darron Nell (c), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Pieter Stemmet, 2 Dane van der Westhuyzen, 1 BG Uys.
Subs: 16 Albe de Swardt, 17 Brenden Olivier, 18 Vukile Sofisa, 19 Stephan Zaayman, 20 Stephan Greef, 21 Thembelani Bholi, 22 Claude Tshidibi, 23 Sonwabo Majola, 24 Shane Gates, 25 Ntabeni Dukisa, 26 Brian Skosana.
Cheetahs – 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagné, 6 Jean Cook, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Subs: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Nicolaas van Dyk, 19 Ligtoring Landman, 20 Boom Prinsloo, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Rayno Benjamin.
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Photo: Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images
