Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske believes his side has established the template for containing Crusaders and All Blacks second five-eighths Sonny Bill Williams.
Williams played the first half of the Crusaders' loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein at the weekend.
Drotske said after the game the key was not to give Williams any room on the outside to execute his trademark offloads and to ensure he is tied up for most of the game.
The Cheetahs had proved more successful at doing this than the more-fancied Sharks and Bulls sides had.
Having taken on the thoughts of former Springbok player, and Saracens coach, Brendan Venter, Drotske believed the example was there for all to see.
"The plans we worked on went well and Robert Ebersohn was excellent in defence and his decision-making on defence was enough to ensure that he [SBW] never got enough room to move."
"It would be way too early to say he was worked out, he still is one of the best players in Super Rugby but we believe the answer to stopping him is to cut off his space," Drotske told Supersport.
The Cheetahs camp believed that Williams was also likely to be a victim of second-season analysis by the time of the Rugby World Cup. That was where after a devastating first season, teams worked out plans to contain him.
Meanwhile, Drotske was determined his side would return to Earth quickly after their Crusaders win when facing the lowly Rebels at home this weekend.
"It does make it dangerous for us, especially after three good wins, that we may become complacent, but if you look at their season, they are up and down from one game to another," he said.
"We are wary of them and the fact that you can't write off any team in this competition. There have been so many upsets already that we need to keep our focus 100 percent on the task at hand."