Rugby-Boom! Cheetahs fight back to stun Sunwolves in Singapore

By Patrick Johnston SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) - The Cheetahs stormed back from 18 points down to claim a 32-31 victory over the shorthanded Sunwolves in a pulsating try fest on Saturday to mark Super Rugby's first ever fixture in Singapore. The Japanese outfit looked on course for their first ever victory in the competition as Akihito Yamada crossed for a hat-trick of tries to put the Sunwolves ahead 28-15 at halftime, with flyhalf Tusi Pisi controlling proceedings. Yamada had the 8,808 fans at the National Stadium, hosting the first of three Sunwolves matches this season, on their feet as he darted in at the corner after only four minutes. Two clever Pisi kicks set up further first half scores and the Samoan slotted a penalty to stretch the lead to 31-13 before the Cheetahs, who let slip a 21 point lead in their opening defeat by the Jaguares, stormed back as the Sunwolves lack of depth was exposed. Substitutes struggled at scrum time and fell off tackles under heavy pressure as flanker Uzair Cassiem was allowed to cross for a 46th minute try and flyhalf Niel Marais stepped easily around tired efforts for another to make it 31-27. Pisi's kicking touch then failed him as he missed a gettable 57th minute penalty, with Yu Tamada then following suit four minutes later with an even more straightforward one as the Cheetahs made the most of the generosity. A sustained period of pressure and subsequent penalties conceded by the Sunwolves in their own 22 resulted in flanker Ed Quirk being sent to the sin bin, with the Cheetahs utilising the man advantage. A trademark South Africa catch and drive from a five minute lineout resulted in replacement loose forward Boom Prinsloo diving over with eight minutes left as the Cheetahs grabbed their first win of the campaign. Disappointed Sunwolves coach Mark Hammett took solace in a first bonus point and the quality of their attacking play. "Once the disappointment of the loss goes, we will be really happy," he told reporters. "Scoring four tries is something to be very proud about, and the way we scored them, (but) we didn't quite get the defence right." (Editing by Pritha Sarkar)