Photo Credit: Gallo Images
The Cheetah management has had positive talks with the senior players earlier this week about what the future holds for the union, the franchise and the team. The players understand why the negotiations with potential sponsors and investors have to be kept confidential for now and are fully focused on the big game against the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday, 5 December 2020. The team is determined to do well in the Carling Currie Cup series: they are, after all, the reigning champions!
Cheetah coach Hawies Fourie says it is a pity that the Cheetahs are going to lose a stalwart in the flyhalf Tian Schoeman, but he has no doubt that Tian will produce his best and will be fully motivated for the games for which he is still going to be available before moving to his new franchise at the end of the year.
The good news is that two injured players, the lock Reniel Hugo and hooker Wilmar Arnoldi, have already started practicing with the team and may be considered for next weekend’s game. Scrumhalf and captain Ruan Pienaar, who was injured in the team’s first Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked game against the Bulls last month, has worked hard over the past few weeks with the team’s physiotherapist and is recuperating well. “Ruan is a professional athlete, he is exercising full out and will hopefully be match fit again before the end of the year,” says Hawies.
He stresses that the team is in a transitional phase. “Fortunately, the injured players know what we want to achieve, they know the signals en how we want to play. The new players have been in the system for about a month, are comfortable and feel that they are part of the team. We should, therefore, get more stability in the Carling Currie Cup series.”