The Cheetahs completely outclassed a poor Samoan side 74-19 in a Super 14 warm-up match played in Kimberley on Saturday.
The Cheetahs raced into a 22-0 lead by the 30th minute and never released the pressure as the embattled Samoan side faced a team at the top of their game.
Early tries by Kabamba Floors (2), Eddie Fredericks and Ronnie Cooke, as well as a Meyer Bosman conversion, set the tone early on. Then came the pick of the first-half tries, with the outstanding Floors breaking through two tackles before off-loading to captain Juan Smith, who fed fellow loose-forward Gareth Krause to take the score to 29-0.
With the hooter already blown, the Samoans hit back through a try by scrumhalf Junior Poluleuligaga.
The Cheetahs started the second half with the same intent, even with 11 changes to the team who ran out, with Ryno van der Merwe scoring off the base of the scrum, converted by Herkie Kruger.
The Samoans responded when flyhalf Lolo Liu burst through, and he converted his own effort.
Cheetahs replacement fullback Tiger Mangweni then stretched for a good score to take the tally to 41-12. The Samoans scored again through Raymond Stark to make a semi-contest of the game, but the Cheetahs snuffed that out with tries by Giscard Pieters and a brace by CJ can der Linde to take the score to 62-19.
That soon became 67 when Van der Merwe notched up his second to complete the romp, but not before Tertius Carse scored the final nail in the coffin. — Sapa