The British and Irish Lions squeaked past a determined Cheetahs side 26-24 in Bloemfontein to maintain their 100 per cent record on the tour.
The tourists had looked on course to rout their Super 14 opponents in the early stages of the match, but the Cheetahs fought back strongly and, had it not been for some errant goal kicking from fly-half Jacques Louis-Potgieter, might easily have won.
The Lions moved 20-0 up inside just 19 minutes, with tries from the impressive Stephen Ferris and Keith Earls. However the game swung back towards the Cheetahs when Ferris was sin-binned on 22 minutes for deliberately staying on the wrong side after a tackle.
Within three minutes, Danwell Demas had gone over to put the Cheetahs' first points on the board, and prop Wian Du Preez's try pulled the score back to 20-14 seconds before Ferris was allowed back on to the field.
The second half was a scrappier affair and, when Corne Uys scored a breakaway try on 72 minutes and Louis Strydom converted to cut the deficit to just two points, the tourists were subjected to a nervy conclusion.
However, they did just enough to see the game out - surviving a monster drop goal attempt from Strydom that sailed wide with just seconds left on the clock - and now travel to Durban to take on the Sharks on Wednesday 10th June.
