Blues clear the ball from the scrum under pressure. But then Jackson Willison drops it 5m out from the line. Blues recover and Hickey finds touch.
Cheetahs will have a lineout near halfway to finish the half.
Halftime hooter sounds, Cheetahs have the penalty advantage. But they push on, still with ball in hand.
Now they kick, but the Cheetahs will come back for the penalty.
Common sense prevails and the Cheetahs will take the three points.
Elgar Watts lines the kick up from wide right...
And he slots it. Halftime.
HALFTIME: BLUES 30 CHEETAHS 16
Fundamentals letting the Blues down once again but they had a good period in the middle of the half with two quick tries. A 14 point lead should make things safe but with this Blues side, you just never know do you?
Players are now making their way out for the second half.
Hickey with the kick off and we are back underway.
Blues have early ball in a good position but the ball has been turned over. It's not pretty as Pretorius is thrown out into touch. Messy start.
Penalty against the Blues now for holding on. Cheetahs find touch with the kick 40m out from the Blues' line.
Cheetahs win the lineout but then knock the ball on. That's four handling errors in the first four minutes of the second half.
Luke Braid scoops up a lose ball from the back of the scrum and is dragged out into touch. Cheetahs win the lineout and burst through over halfway.
But they have conceded another penalty.
Ma'a Nonu and Jerome Kaino are warming up now and the crowd are loving it. Won't be long till we see the big names. No sign of Marshall.
Meanwhile, Hickey is lining up another shot at goal.
Hickey's kick is short. He is human.
Cheetahs break down the right hand side and look like they will score but George Moala is back with some great cover defence.
The attack started from Hickey's short kick at goal. It was a 100 yard attack. That's what we want to see.
Cheetahs earn a penalty from the next phase, kick for touch, win the lineout and drive again. Now just metres away.
But Luatua has turned it over.
But now the Blues have conceded another penalty. What a roller coaster of emotions.
Cheetahs are over the line now but can they get it down? Ref says no. We are going back for a 5m scrum.
Scrum penalty to the Blues. That whistle has just gone non-stop tonight.
But another wasted chance from the Cheetahs. Blues must be credited with their defensive work though.
Nonu and Kaino are now on the pitch and the crowd are going nuts.
Two of the biggest names in rugby to be bringing off the bench. Should help liven things up.
Interesting perspective Sam. I would suggest there hasn't been enough end-to-end footy tonight. Too much ref's whistle. But can't argue with preferring to watch a local derby.
For any Phoenix fans out there it's bad news. They are 3-0 down to the Newcastle Jets.
Cheetahs break free down the right hand side once again through Hendricks but there is a forward pass and we come back for a scrum.
Nearly a little bit of aggro there between Hendricks and Piutau but calmer heads prevail.
57 MINS - BLUES 30 CHEETAHS 16
#BLUvCHE wow haven't seen a reffing performance as bad as this in ages!!! Complete lottery for both teams... #killingthegameby BoBo via twitter 3/22/2014 7:26:31 AM
