Springbok great's career comes to a close as Clermont survive Cheetahs fightback

After being thoroughly outplayed in the first half to leave the hosts leading 22-3 at the break, the Cheetahs very nearly pulled off an audacious second-half comeback with three tries in the final 20 minutes.

However, it was too little too late as the three-time tournament winners managed to survive the late onslaught.

The match proved to be the last one for Springbok veteran Ruan Pienaar, who very nearly spearheaded an epic comeback but saw his glittering career come to a close at the age of 40.

The Cheetahs' first-half troubles were mostly of their own doing, as they struggled to match their opponents at the breakdown and in the set pieces.

An 11th-minute penalty from Ruan Pienaar was their only score in the first 40, as Clermont took a commanding lead thanks to tries from Argentine winger Bautista Delguy, fullback Joris Jurand and hooker Etienne Fourcade.

When Clermont crossed again early in the second half via scrumhalf Baptiste Jauneau, the visitors looked dead and buried, trailing 27-3.

However, lock Sibabalo Qoma started the fightback with the Cheetahs' first try in the 62nd minute, and that seemed to light a fire under the men from Bloemfontein, helped in part by a yellow card to Fourcade.

Soon after, Tapiwa Mafura scored their second try after a superb cross-kick from Pienaar, and minutes later, a clever little grubber through from the veteran helped set up another try for Qoma, as the Cheetahs suddenly only trailed by five points with eight minutes to play.

Unfortunately, that was how the scoreline ended, as the Cheetahs failed to find another way over the whitewash to leave the home side clinging on for victory.

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