Etzebeth Judo throw on Lood Jaw Dejaager

Lloyd Burnard - Newlands

Cape Town - Saturday's Super Rugby clash 

between the Stormers and the Cheetahs in Cape Town could not have been more closely contested.

The hosts emerged 31-24 victors to get their 

season back on track, but they certainly didn't

 have it all their own way and the Cheetahs

 gave as good as they got throughout the 80 minutes. 

Leolin Zas's interception led to a decisive

 Stormers try, but he had he not reached

 the ball the Cheetahs would surely have 

scored in the corner and the result may 

have made for very different reading. 

There was one moment that perfectly

 represented just how close the contest was, 

and it had very little to do with rugby. 

On the half hour mark, an off-the-ball scuffle between Springbok locks Eben Etzebeth 

and Lood de Jager brought play to an abrupt halt.

Etzebeth (6 ft 8 in) and De Jager (6 ft 9 in) grappled, wrestled and eventually fell to the

 turf as Newlands momentarily turned into the Colosseum, with the towering tight forwards 

taking on the form of gladiators. 

Fortunately for both sides, referee 

Glen Jackson didn't dish out any 

punishment after having consulted with 

the TMO, and the two units dusted themselves 

off and carried on with business.

"When Glen (Jackson) called me over there 

I saw two big men standing there, so I'm glad I wasn't in between them," Cheetahs captain Francois Venter said.

"There's always personal fight ...

 everyone wants that Bok jersey for himself so I think that's a massive battle.

"Lood actually owed him (Etzebeth)

 one from the previous game in Bloemfontein. I think Eben got the better of him there, 

but I'm proud of Lood. He picked up his game and his presence was felt on the field again.

"It's always great seeing them play 

against each other and they are a huge clash."

Stormers captain Frans Malherbe 

said that the physical niggle in the game 

was likely the result of frustration from 

both sides, but he did not think it had 

much of an impact on how the rest of the

 match panned out.

"You can't really take momentum out of off 

the ball stuff like that," said Malherbe.

"Luckily it didn't get too serious. 

You don't want one of those guys getting cited 

now ahead of the break and the internationals."