Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie has said that his team's win against the Sharks this weekend had come at a vital time for them.

The Cheetahs kept their hopes of securing a berth in the Currie Cup semifinals alive with a 37-10 win over the Sharks at Free State Stadium on Sunday.

“We really needed a win over a Super Rugby team‚” Fourie said. “Up to now‚ we’ve only beaten the Bulls [of the Super teams]‚ and it was important for me that we beat the Sharks.

“We didn’t prepare that well this week with all the disruptions‚ and it was important to play well for a full 80 minutes. And even when we were 14 or 13 on the field [due to two yellow cards in the second half]‚ everybody stuck to the plan.”

The Cheetahs are now fifth on 26 log points and face Western Province in a key home game on Saturday.

“They have several Springboks in their team‚ but we all know if you have 15 guys who are on the same page‚ everybody’s motivated and they all believe in each other and in the plan‚ then you can go far‚” Fourie said.

“We are looking forward to this match. These last four matches‚ as our captain Carl Wegner has said‚ are like semi-finals.

“If you lose‚ you are out. It stays the same for this weekend’s match‚ so we must win against WP and we will prepare well.

“The biggest thing that we need to improve is our defence. Even though we conceded just one try‚ the Sharks had a lot of opportunities in the first half.

“We will work hard on that‚ especially when we kick‚ to get into line quickly and make our one-on-one tackles.”