Benetton 27-21 Cheetahs: Faiva's brace helps Benetton to bonus-point win
Last Updated: 06/01/18 4:41pm
Hame Faiva's brace of tries helped Benetton achieve a third consecutive victory in the Guinness PRO14.
The Italian outfit, already boosted by back-to-back victories against Zebre Rugby, came from behind to take the spoils at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
Kieran Crowley's side remain in fifth position in Conference B and host RC Toulon at home next weekend in the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The Cheetahs' next outing will be the first of two derby meetings with the Southern Kings in the Guinness PRO14.
It was the visitors who flew out of the blocks the quickest with their fly-half, Fred Zeilinga, securing three penalties to create a 9-0 lead after half-an-hour.
Benetton's response came from Monty Ioane and his 38th-minute try secured their foothold in the match just ahead of the break.
The second half started with Marty Banks bringing the home side back to within a point before the Cheetahs re-established a 16-8 hold on the game through Oupa Mohoje's five-pointer and Zeilinga's conversion.
However the final quarter of the match firmly belonged to the hosts as they took full advantage of a lack of discipline shown by the Cheetahs.
First, hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld was shown yellow at the breakdown before their scrum-half Shaun Venter deliberately knocked on and was handed a card himself.
With two men off the field the hosts struck through Faiva and Federico Ruzza with Banks converting two.
Faiva was not content with just one try and his second secured the home side's bonus point before the Cheetahs added a late consolation score with three minutes to go.
