Late heartbreak as Cheetahs fall short against Racing 92 in Paris

The late rally denied the Bloemfontein side a deserved win in their final pool match after a spirited performance in which they showed plenty of attacking intent.

The visitors made a dream start when Daniel Maartens crossed inside the opening two minutes, with Jaco van der Walt adding the conversion for a 7-0 lead, but Racing responded through Auguste Albuisson to level the scores.

South African-born Hacjivah Dayimani then produced a moment of brilliance to put Racing ahead, but the visitors struck back immediately when sustained pressure forced a penalty try and saw Romain Taofifenua sent to the sin bin.

The Cheetahs' dominance up front soon told again. Zander du Plessis had a try chalked off shortly before Prince Nkabinde finished another well-worked attacking move to give the visitors a 21-14 lead at the break.

Racing came out firing after half-time, narrowing the gap through Nolann Donguy before capitalising on Cheetahs handling errors to edge in front via Jonny Hill. Yet the visitors refused to fold. Their forwards continued to gain ascendancy at scrum time, and Du Plessis crowned a barnstorming performance with his second try of the night to reclaim the lead, Van der Walt's conversion making it 28-24 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

As the clock wound down, Racing threw everything at the Cheetahs' defensive line. The Bloemfontein side fought back wave after wave of pressure, but with time up on the clock, Gael Fickou finally found a way through to break Cheetahs hearts, before the conversion sealed a narrow victory for the home side.