Toyota Cheetahs take on Ulster in Bloemfontein

Sep 20 • General News, Guinness Pro14 • 1331 Views • Comments Off on Toyota Cheetahs take on Ulster in Bloemfontein

At 19:15 the Toyota Cheetahs will be taking on Ulster in a Guinness PRO14 match with a live broadcast on SuperSport1. Gates open at 12:00.

FATMAN will be providing entertainment at the Castle Deck before and after the main match. Tickets are only R40 for the main stand, R30 for the open stand. Children and students pay R20 and kids under the age of seven can collect a free ticket from the ticket office or pay point at the gate.

The Toyota Cheetahs will face a tough battle as they line up against the unbeaten Ulster team in round 4. They will be hunting their first victory of the season against the Irishmen, who will be looking to stretch their winning run in the competition to four matches, and maintain their unbeaten status against South African sides.

“Toyota Stadium is our home ground and pride and we really don’t want to disappoint at home. We want to play the supporters back into the stands,” said captain Tian Meyer. “We’ve grown a lot since the first match of the season and have a lot of potential. We grow in different aspects of the game. We hope that this time things will come together and that we will put out a good performance on Friday.”

The teams have only met once before in Belfast, in the Toyota Cheetah’s very first Guinness PRO14 match where Ulster registered a convincing 42-19 victory. They have been closely matched on attack this season, with both sides boasting six tries in the first three rounds, which should boost the Toyota Cheetahs’ confidence.

Good discipline will be vital for Franco Smith’s men, as Ulster have kicked 11 penalty goals so far in the competition – all by John Cooney, the top try-scorer in the series – while they also need to tighten up their defence after conceding 52 points last week.

They will also have to contain Springbok loose forward Marcell Coetzee, who has been a stand-out performer on attack and defence, with 22 carries last week alone, while he was also a handful at the breakdowns.

Coach Franco Smith has announced his team for the match.

· Ox Nche and Charles Marais will be switching places with Nche in the starting line-up and Marais providing cover on the bench.

· Neill Jordaan will be replacing the Aidon Davis as no.8. Stephan Malan will be providing cover on the bench. Malan will be making his Guinness PRO14 debut when he stets foot to field.

· Justin Basson returns to the bench, replacing Dennis Visser.

· Louis Fouche will be replacing Marnus van der Merwe on the bench. Fouche will be making his Guinness PRO14 debut when he sets foot to field.

The following players are not eligible for team selection due to injury:

Quintin Vorster (ankle), Ntokosa Vidima (wrist), Dries Swanepoel (shoulder), Erich de Jager (bicep), Oupa Mohoje (knee), Luan de Bruin (ankle), Jasper Wiese (shoulder), Zee Mkhabela (ankle), Lloyd Greeff (ankle), Sibabalo Qoma (ankle), Aidon Davis (laceration)

The team will be travelling to Wales on Tuesday for the match against Cardiff Blues on Friday, 28 September.

Toyota Cheetahs

1. Ox Nche

2. Jospeh Dweba

3. Aranos Coetzee

4. Walt Steenkamp

5. JP du Preez

6. Gerhard Olivier

7. Junior Pokomela

8. Niell Jordaan

9. Tian Meyer ©

10. Tian Schoeman

11. Rabz Maxwane

12. Nico Lee

13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg

14. William Small-Smith

15. Malcolm Jaer

16. Jacques du Toit

17. Charles Marais

18. Günther Janse van Vuuren

19. Justin Basson

20. Stephan Malan

21. Shaun Venter

22. Louis Fouche

23. Ryno Eksteen

The referee for the match is Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 48th competition game). He will be assisted by Sam Grove-White (SRU) and Ben Crouse (SARU). The TMO is Johan Greeff (SARU).