Wednesday, 31st October 2007 at 5:02 pm

Cheetahs win thriller in Bloem

One year, three unforgettable finals. Bryan Habana’s last-gasp opportunism broke Sharks hearts, sent Pretoria into delirium, and confirmed 2007 as South Africa’s best ever year of Super rugby; the penalty shoot-out in Paris might not have been vintage rugby, but it was 80 gripping minutes of unrelenting contest, and a white-knuckle end to the tournament; and then, to finish a glorious year of rugby in appropriate fashion, the Cheetahs won the best Absa Currie Cup final we’ve had in years.

That they looked set for an upset made it all the memorable - Loffie Eloff’s young Lions nearly pulled off a quite remarkable victory that would have had Bloemfontein a very quiet place indeed on Saturday night. A couple of yellow cards, some desperate Lions defending, and a Cheetahs side who couldn’t quite pull the trigger in the first half, meant that at one stage a Lions win looked a distinct possibility.

But with Willem de Waal pulling off one of the three kicks of the year (Frans Steyn’s World Cup final penalty, and Ruan Pienaar’s effort from the touchline against the Crusaders the other two contenders), and Os du Randt leading the local roar, Naka Drotske got to celebrate his ascension to the Free State helm with a famous victory, and ensure that despite the World Cup hovering over the event, the Absa Currie Cup got the finale it deserved.