Fly half Peter Grant returned after a lengthy absence to kick 24 points for the winners whose tally was completed by a try each from full-back Gio Aplon, centre Juan de Jongh, replacement Nick Koster and left wing Bryan Habana.
Table toppers Queensland Reds are also straight through to the last-four stage of the southern hemisphere championship and will enjoy home advantage over the weekend of July 1-2 along with the Cape Town franchise.
Reds completed the 16-match schedule with 66 points followed by Stormers (63), Canterbury Crusaders (61), Auckland Blues (60) and New South Wales Waratahs and Coastal Sharks with 57 each.
New Zealand staged both qualifiers next weekend with seven-time title holders Crusaders confronting the Sharks while Blues tackle New South Wales Waratahs.
Defending champions Northern Bulls just missed the play-offs as they sought a fourth title within five years, losing 26-23 at home against Sharks in a winner-takes-all Loftus Versfeld thriller.
"We were in the privileged position of knowing what was needed to secure direct entry to the semis and now we can put our feet up, have a few beers and then start preparing," chuckled Stormers skipper and flank Schalk Burger.
"Cheetahs are a great attacking side and we did well to secure a bonus-point victory over them.
"Having a bye next weekend will allow sore bodies to recover although it does not look too good at the moment for Duane Vermeulen."
Number eight Vermeulen, a strong contender for a Springbok World Cup squad place, was driven off the field injured during the second half before a large crowd at a chilly Free State Stadium in the central city.
Official man-of-the-match Grant joked that he had considered not wearing the number 10 jersey given the number of injuries suffered by Stormers fly halves this season.
"It is great to be back even if my chest was burning a bit toward the end," he said.
"An ankle injury obviously made it difficult for me to practice my place kicking, but I got some work done."
Left wing Rayno Benjamin scored three tries for Cheetahs and number eight Davon Raubenheimer one with fly half Sias Ebersohn providing the rest of the points from four conversions and two penalties.
- AFP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, south-africa First posted June 19, 2011 05:57:00
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