The Toyota Cheetahs will host the Windhoek Draught Griquas on Saturday at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein at 13h30 in a must-win for both teams.
The Toyota Cheetahs have lost their last two matches and will be desperate to bounce back against their neighbours from Kimberley on Saturday. The Free Staters need to win big in Bloemfontein to retain their position at the top of the standings.
Windhoek Draught Griquas are currently placed sixth on the Currie Cup Premier Division log. A win could see them ending at four while a loss will end their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.
Pieter Berg, head coach of the Windhoek Draught Griquas made three changes to his starting line-up.
At the back, George Whitehead replaces Ashlon Davids at fullback while hooker Janco Uys return from injury with tighthead Janu Botha joining him in the front row replacing Justin Forwood, who drops to the bench.
Coach Hawies Fourie announced the Toyota Cheetahs' starting line-up. At the back, Robert Ebersohn is replaced by Evardi Boshoff while Ruan Pienaar moves to the flyhalf and Rewan Kruger slots in at scrumhalf. Up front, Friedle Olivier moves to number eight while Siba Qoma comes in on the side of the scrum with George Cronje moving to the bench. The last change is at tighthead lock where Laurence Victor replaces Hencus van Wyk.
“Every team is actually in a position to qualify for the semis, so I don’t think we are especially focusing on making the semis already. We take this week from Monday to Sunday and then only from the next Monday to the next. So, our focus at this point is on the Griquas,” said Rewan Kruger, scrumhalf of the Toyota Cheetahs, on their position in the final rounds.
“The last four weeks were wet, and we are disappointed in how we played our game in Durban. The result is what it is, but we thought the way we approached the game with the experience we picked up in Europe, where we played in those wet conditions, would suit us well, but we got the tactics wrong.” Said Charl Strydom, Toyota Cheetahs Defense Coach.
“We thought we were prepared for that type of game in Durban, and we weren’t, so it was a reality check.”
Teams:
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 David Brits, 12 Evardi Boshoff, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Friedle Olivier, 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (c), 4 Rynier Bernardo 3 Laurence Victor, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Andisa Ntsila, 20 George Cronje, 21 Daniel Maartens, 22 Siya Masuku, 23 Robert Ebersohn.
Windhoek Draught Griquas: 15 George Whitehead, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Carl Els, 7 Hanru Sirgel (c), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Dylan Sjöblom, 3 Justin Forwood, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Kudzwai Dube. Replacements: 16 Sean Swart, 17 Cebo Dlamini, 18 Justin Forwood, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Stephan Smit, 21 Reagan Oranje, 22 Eddie Fouche, 23 Sango Xamlashe.
