With the Super Rugby quarter-finalists now decided we take a look at those teams who missed out. Next up, the Cheetahs who finished 13th.
The men from Bloemfontein replicated their return of 2016 with just four wins from their 15 fixtures as they signed off from Super Rugby.
It's a sad day to say goodbye to a franchise that has always entertained and produced some wonderful players over the years but, with the Kings, the Cheetahs bow out and now seemed destined to play in the PRO12. How that will pan out has some doubts, as Loose Pass discusses.
As we say there's been real talent to come out of this franchise like Heinrich Brüssow, Ashley Johnson, Juan Smith, Adriaan Strauss and more. They were always willing to try their hand in possession over the years, even when their countrymen had employed much tighter styles.
Looking at this past campaign and they will have been pleased to finish above one of their rivals, the Bulls, in Africa 1. That's a decent achievement against a much wealthier union that in fact signed their best player from 2016, second-row Lood de Jager, ahead of this season.
Victories came over the Bulls, Sunwolves (twice) and the Kings, but they were out of the play-off race long before the season's climax, as the Sharks finished 21 points ahead of them in eighth position while their Conference winners, the Stormers, were a further point in front.
Franco Smith has done a good job though since taking over and helped bring on the likes of Uzair Cassiem, Clinton Swart and Nico Lee, with senior players such as Torsten van Jaarsveld, Francois Uys and Francois Venter never taking a backward step. However, when looking at what went wrong the Cheetahs once again might look at their defence as they conceded 551 points which included 69 tries, the third and second most in 2017.
Now we all wait to see what will transpire regarding an expected PRO12 inclusion which, as we have mentioned, does not fill us with confidence.
Best player: Francois Venter, Raymond Rhule and Clayton Blommetjies impressed in the backline while Uzair Cassiem was always a threat when fit in the back-row. But we go for prop Ox Nche after a strong campaign that saw him claim two tries, make 14 tackle busts and 351 metres.
The post Super Rugby Review: Cheetahs appeared first on Planet Rugby.