The Cheetahs cleaned up their act in the second half to win this messy Super Rugby Unlocked clash against their westerly and at times wayward neighbours.
They beat Griquas 28-9 after keeping the visitors scoreless in the second half.
In wet conditions both teams were prone to error with handling mistakes the order of the day and both teams also treaded water in the set pieces. There was a general failure to master the ball in the line-out, while the soggy underfoot conditions meant the scrums were never a sure thing.
It was a disjointed clash and it was only around the 50-minute mark that the Cheetahs asserted themselves. Their forwards started to eke out small gains and tactical kicking allowed them to operate in favourable territory.
It were their forwards however that got them nudging forward. For sheer effort few matched No 8 Jeandre Rudolph who was always in the thick of things, though not always to the benefit of the team in white. He frequently affects play but also has a propensity to fall on the wrong side of the law.
A little more measured, but equally industrious, was stand-in captain Carl Wegner. Fullback Clayton Blommetjies was the home team's most assured back. He was steady under the high ball and proved the occasional nuisance to the visitors in attack. So too was left wing Rosko Specman, though given the conditions his opportunities were limited.
The hosts got on the board as early as the third minute when Andisa Ntsila stole what for the longest time appeared to be a try- scoring opportunity for left wing Specman.
Those opportunities however proved few and far between, partly because of the conditions, but principally the dimensions of Griquas' challenge.
Griquas captain and scrumhalf Zak Burger increasingly widened his range of influence in the first half but his impact was not as keenly felt in the second.
With Griquas also struggling to fashion try-scoring opportunities it was left to flyhalf Tinus de Beer to advance his team on the scoreboard in the first half. Both kickers however struggled to master their attempts at goal.
De Beer slotted three penalties in the first half to help give his team a one-point lead at the break.
After Cheetahs' tighthead prop Hencus van Wyk gave away two penalties for collapsing the scrum in the first half, the hosts cleaned up their act in the second.
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