Superb defence and astute attacking paved the way for the Cheetahs' worthy 38-21 win over Western Province in a Currie Cup clash in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
The match started at breakneck speed and it was the Cheetahs who scored first after just 59 seconds as the home side backline worked the ball to get Duncan Saal in space.
The flying winger made no mistake as he beat the Province cover defence for an unconverted try to give the Cheetahs an early 5-0 lead.
Unbelievably, and despite long periods of dominance by Western Province, the next score in the clash was a penalty by Ruan Pienaar in the 38th minute.
He added another after the hooter had sounded as the Cheetahs led 11-0 at the break with Western Province having nothing to show for their dominance of both territory and possession.
Western Province needed to start the second half well and they did with energetic No 8 Evan Roos striding over after a brilliant offload by Marcel Theunissen.
Flyhalf Tim Swiel added the extras and the men from the Cape were back in the game at 11-7.
But the Cheetahs hit back almost immediately as David Brits collected a clever kick ahead by Brandon Thomson to score a converted try under the uprights as the Cheetahs led 18-7 in the 47th minute.
They added another try on the counter-attack just two minutes later as veteran Pienaar benefitted after Clayton Blommetjies cut through the Province defence.
The scrumhalf converted his own try as the Cheetahs moved out to a 25-7 lead in the 50th minute.
The impressive Roos had his second for Western Province in the 53rd minute which Swiel converted before Pienaar added another penalty for the Cheetahs to make the score 28-14 in the 56th minute.
A period of pressure by Western Province almost resulted in a try for hooker Andre-Hugo Venter but he was adjudged to have knocked-on while trying to ground the ball.
The Cheetahs extended their lead to 31-14 in the 74th minute thanks to Pienaar's trusty boot as any chance of Western Province getting back into the encounter slowly ebbed away.
The home side rubbed further salt into the wounds when Cohen Jasper scored their fourth try of the night that secured them a well deserved bonus point.
After the hooter, Province secured a consolation score when replacement Tom Bursey wiggled his over for a converted try after tacking a quick tap penalty.
The Cheetahs are next in action on 24 July at home against the Sharks, while Western Province are away to the Pumas on 25 July.
Scorers
Cheetahs
Tries: Duncan Saal, David Brits, Ruan Pienaar, Cohen Jasper
Conversions: Ruan Pienaar (3)
Penalties: Ruan Pienaar (4)
Western Province
Tries: Evan Roos (2), Thomas Bursey
Conversions: Tim Swiel (3)
Teams
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 David Brits, 12 Siya Masuku, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Jeandre Rudolph, 5 Jean Droste, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni
Substitutes: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Victor Sekekete, 20 Jacques Potgieter, 21 Zinedine Booysen, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Chris Smit
Western Province
15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Tristan Leyds, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Leon Lyons
Substitutes: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Simon Miller 20 Johan du Toit, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Sacha Mngomezulu, 23 Leolin Zas