Showing vast improvement, the Southern Spears gave the Cats a good go for their money in going down 29-11 in their Super 14 warm-up match at the Absa Stadium on Saturday.
The match was watched by a large, appreciative crowd dressed in red, but the weather was sultry enough to make even the skinniest person sweat.
And sweat the Cats did as the Spears played in-your-face rugby, limiting the visitors to a single second-half try after leading 24-5 at the break.
There wasn’t too much to get excited about in the opening 32 minutes, although Cats flank and captain Wikus van Heerden did score an early try from a line-out.
It took a 30m run by Spears left wing Luvuyo Sogidashe, who was stopped just short by a desperate Wylie Human, and a Spears unconverted try by centre Spencer Wakeling to liven the Cats up.
Wakeling’s try was courtesy of a Pietie Loots grubber into the right-hand corner after quick third-phase play.
In the final four minutes of the half, the Cats scored through centre Jaque Fourie and scrumhalf Arno Vermaak and one wondered if the floodgates would open.
Spears flyhalf Ishma-eel Dollie left his boots at home, missing three goalable penalties.
The second-half assault by the Cats failed to materialise and they looked ordinary. At times their passing was sloppy; they looked disorganised and found the Spears were giving as good as they got among the forwards in broken play.
The Cats did not score until the 72nd minute when, against the run of play, the Cats broke away and replacement scrumhalf Enrico January rounded off some fine inter-passing.
It was a vast improvement for the Spears, who went down 48-0 against the Central Cheetahs last weekend, but clearly the Cats have a lot of work ahead. — Sapa