It was a shame, not only for Scott Baldwin’s pride, that a lion nibble nabbed so many headlines last Friday evening in the wake of another fine win for the Cheetahs.

In overturning the out-of-sorts Ospreys 44-25 in Bloemfontein, the hosts dispatched a team containing three British and Irish Lions. Armed with a robust driving maul, they outmuscled Steve Tandy’s side in the tight exchanges and were far too dynamic when the game became fractured.

Naturally, there were neurotic periods fraught with errors. This is an outfit that blew a 24-0 lead against the Chiefs in Super Rugby six months ago. A few weeks later, the Highlanders scored three tries in the final five minutes to beat them 45-41 from 41-24 behind.

Many thought these crazy games would mean that the Pro 14’s latest arrivals would be entertaining newcomers at least. Rory Duncan’s men were plucky underdogs with the unique selling point of producing end-to-end spectacles. But genuine competitors? Forget it.

Well, while still delivering on the helter-skelter scorelines - their five matches thus far have featured 48 tries - three consecutive victories have confounded the doom-mongers.