The New Nation Construction Pumas face the Toyota Cheetahs in Nelspruit on @ 16h45 today in Mbombela in the third round of the Preparation series.
The Toyota Cheetahs may be excused if they travel to Mbombela with a smile on their faces. They are on a high after beating two of the "Top" franchise during the past three weeks. First, they travelled to Cape Town to spoil the Stormers move to their new home with a 34-33 win and last week they hosted the Sharks and won 39-38.
Jimmy Stonehouse has always said that the Pumas reserves their best for the "smaller" unions in South Africa. The Pumas had two "good" losses against the Lions (28-32) and the Bulls (31-48) during the Preparation Series.
Expect the Pumas to target the Cheetahs in especially the scrums and the loose. The influence that ex Bok Potgieter will have for the Cheetahs in his debut will be interesting, however, Willie Engelbrecht has enough in the tank to welcome Potgieter back to South Africa with a smile.
Although Frans Steyn is on the bench his "influence" will be missed and might be the difference between winning or losing.
Former Junior Springbok prop Marné Coetzee is set to make his comeback at tighthead for the Pumas. Apart from running out in 47 matches for the Lowvelders, the 27-year-old Coetzee has played for the Cell C Sharks and SWD Eagles in a senior career that dates back to 2015.
With Ig Prinsloo out injured, Coetzee – who played for the SA Schools side in 2011 and the SA Under-20s in 2013 – will run out in the New Nation Pumas’ No 3 shirt, next to Simon Westraadt (hooker) and Morgan Naudé (loosehead prop).
Willie Engelbrecht (No 8) and Daniel Maartens (flanker) return to the loose trio, with Francois Kleinhans moving from blindside to openside flanker.
At the back, Etienne Taljaard is back at the right-wing, while Erich Cronje gets a start at the outside centre next to the impressive Ali Mgijima (inside centre).
Eddie Fouché and Chriswill September will continue with their halfback partnership as the New Nation Pumas look to bounce back from their defeats against the Lions (32-28) and Vodacom Bulls (48-31) in the last few weeks.
Toyota Cheetahs head coach Hawies Fourie has mixed up his team for this encounter with former Springbok loose-forward Jacques Potgieter named at No 8.
The inclusion of the experienced Potgieter, a three-cap Springbok who also played for the Vodacom Bulls, Cell C Sharks, Waratahs and Toulon and recently signed for the Free Staters at No 8 is one of six changes to the pack.
Only Carl Wegner (lock) and Cameron Dawson (loosehead prop) retain their places in the starting team from their last match, a 39-38 victory over the Cell C Sharks.
Joining Potgieter in the back-row is Oupa Mohoje and Chris Massyn, while Victor Sekekete (lock), Aranos Coetzee (prop) and Marnus van der Merwe (hooker) are all starting.
The backline is also vastly different as only Malcolm Jaer (right-wing), Reinhardt Fortuin (flyhalf) and Ruan Pienaar (captain and scrumhalf) will start again.
Rhyno Smith (fullback), Craig Barry (left-wing) and Howard Mnisi (inside centre) will relish the opportunity of getting some much-needed game time for the Free Staters.
New Nation Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Etienne Taljaard, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Ali Ngijima, 11 Tapiwa Mafura, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Francois Kleinhans, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Darien Landsberg, 4 Pieter Janse van Vuren (captain), 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Morgan Naudé. Replacements (from): 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Ruan Kramer, 19 Jaco Willemse, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Phumzile Maqondwana, 22 Ginter Smuts, 23 Wayne van der Bank, 24 Sebastian de Klerk.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 13 Chris Smit, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Craig Barry, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jacques Potgieter, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Chris Massyn, 5 Victor Sekekete, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Cameron Dawson. Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Rosko Specman.