Jaguars set strong final against Cheetahs
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday March 24, 2026 09:27
The games were played at Touch Down ground. Jaguars coach, Jeremy Barbage, told Sport Monitor that they were playing against league champions, and the plan was to play basic rugby. He said they worked hard for the win.
Barbage added that they had two off season matches against Cheetahs and lost badly against Zeerust rugby club which served as a motivation for the players.
“We have a bad history of coming from behind but that quick try was the biggest mistake by Hogs. What we did best was our forwards, when we started pressing they started defending on the back foot,” he said.
“My forwards did a good job led by senior players, Tafa Ncube and Rambo Masalila. In the second half, the ball was wet, we started playing short, all we wanted was to keep the ball, let Hogs to come at us, make mistakes and we get the penalties, that worked in our favour,” he said.
Barbage said the match against Cheetahs will not be easy and as under dogs they will prepare the same way they did against Hogs.
Hogs coach, Vuyo Moyo said at the start of the match, they wanted to play according to the plan, which was to play wide but that did not work because of the many mistakes that were made, especially in the break down and “we were penalised a lot”.
He said the game was also meant to test out the young players who recently joined the senior team.
“We scored a quick try in the 3rd minute but they managed to make a comeback, they wanted it more. We should now go back to the drawing board and fix our game. The second half we had a lot of knock on due to the rainy weather. We are out of the Knock Out Cup which means we will be playing for third or fourth position,” said Moyo.
Jaguars were awarded their first penalty in the 22nd minute and it was scored by Chyna Pelaelo to bring his side into the game.
The side continued to pile pressure on Hogs and the attempt finally paid off with a try in the 30th minute scored by Letlhogile Tsheko and Pelaelo’s clean kick gave Jaguars a 10-5 lead.
Before break, Jaguars extended the lead to 13-5 and it did not take long before the side continued dominance with Tsheko scoring another try and Pelaelo converted to make it 20-5.
Hogs attempted to push for a second try with no luck and they were punished in the dying minutes of the game to take the score line to 27-5.
In another exciting encounter, Cheetahs emerged victorious against Jwaneng Wildebeests, beating them with a single try (7-0) scored by Martin Simon with two points for a conversion.
Cheetahs coach, Eddy Ernest, said he was not impressed by the way his players played despite the win.
According to him, it was their first game of the season, the bodies were not in shape and the ground was slippery. He said the most important thing playing in rainy conditions, they should not rush.
For his part, Wildebeests coach, Mathews Porogo said with the first game of the season, a team is made up of players that have not played together for a long time.
“We are still trying to find a way on how they can play together. We have recruited experienced players from other clubs such as Hogs, UB Rhinos and Cheetahs.
“There were instances where you could see individual brilliance. First half we were good, even challenged their lineouts. Our decision making was not good when we reached 22 meter line and that is where we lost the game,” Porogo said.