Cheetahs coach Franco Smith refused to admit his team is caught in a whirlpool of mediocre performances after their sixth consecutive loss at the Free State Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Crusaders may have been a beneficiary of a questionable refereeing decision in the 37th minute of the game but they were full value for their bonus point 48-21 win.

 Sergeal Petersen looked to have scored what was a legitimate try but television match official Johan Greef ruled that Retshegofaditswe “Ox” Nche’s pass went forward but television replays validated the dubious nature of the decision.

The Cheetahs were trailing 15-7 at that point and George Bridge’s second try stretched the lead to an impregnable 22-7 and the Cheetahs were spent.

 “You can’t call it a slump‚ we were never truly outplayed even though there were periods when we were on the back foot. You may call it a slump but it doesn’t mean we’re in a slump because we’re not winning. If the players didn’t arrive on Monday or prove they didn’t want to win then I would agree but we continued playing right till the end . We were the first team to score a try against the Crusaders in the last 20 minutes‚” Smith said.

“That try would have given us a big boost because we would have gone into the break 15-14 against the log leaders and that would have been a nice feeling at halftime. It would have made a big difference even though Nico Lee had a chance he didn’t take. If he made one more pass inside‚ he would have scored. We just gave the opposition too much respect and that’s something we’ve got to change.”

Smith felt his team needs to be afforded more respect for their performances even though they are not translating into positive performances.

 Unlike in some of the matches they lost where they’ve relinquished first half leads‚ the Crusaders ensured the Cheetahs were kept in their cage.

 The Cheetahs did show a never-say-die streak that saw Petersen score in the final move of the game.

With the ever-improving Highlanders being the Cheetahs next opponents on Friday evening‚ Smith knows he has his work cut out in terms of getting his players up for the game.

“The Crusaders came here and played their strongest team because they knew they faced the possibility of losing this game. They didn’t do fancy things like training at Grey College or participate in any off the field events. They focused because they knew they could lose this game. The Chiefs were in the same boat but they found an extra gear‚” Smith said.

“We know the Highlanders can beat anybody on their day and they have high skill levels. We know we’ve got a tough New Zealand challenge but I hope we can apply the lessons we’ve learnt today.”