Toyota Cheetahs team to take on Isuzu Southern Kings

Feb 1 • General News, Guinness Pro14 • 1173 Views • Comments Off on Toyota Cheetahs team to take on Isuzu Southern Kings

Considering the thrilling finish between the Toyota Cheetahs and Isuzu Southern Kings a fortnight ago in Port Elizabeth, and the exciting victories last weekend, sparks are set to fly in Toyota Stadium.

The Toyota Cheetahs will be hosting the Isuzu Southern Kings in the second South African derby of the Guinness PRO14 season on Saturday, 2 February 2019. The action kicks off at 16:00 with a live broadcast in South Africa, the UK and Ireland across SuperSport 1, Premier Sports and eir Sport.

Toyota Cheetahs speedster Rabz Maxwane and Yaw Penxe from the Kings are expected to turn up the heat. Maxwane is still in the first position on the top-try scorer’s list with 10 and Penxe match-winning try against Edinburgh increased his tally to six.

The battle between the team’s goal kickers, Tian Schoeman and the King’s Masixole Banda, who are both among the top eight point’s scorers this season, are expected to be exciting.

The Toyota Cheetahs are also closing in on northern rivals and they are now only five points away from Cardiff Blues and a bonus-point win in this fixture would leave just two points shy of third place and relight hopes of a return to the Guinness PRO14 Final Series.

“The longer you play in this competition, the better you adapt and we expect that the Kings would want to cause an upset. They will be up for the challenge and we realise that it is going to a tough.

The fact that they keep playing right till the very end makes them a dangerous opponent”. Said Coach Franco Smith. “We’ve worked hard on different aspects of our games since the last encounter.”

Supporters can look forward to entertainment by the lovely Tarryn Lamb and her band at the Castle Deck after the game.

Tickets are only R60 for the main stand, R40 for the open stand and R20 for students and kids. Kids under the age of 7 can collect a free ticket from the gate. Tickets are available from the ticket office in Toyota Stadium or online at www.fscheetahs.co.za. Gates open at 14:00.

The South African derby is the only Guinness PRO14 action of the week.

Coach Franco Smith has announced his team for the clash with some changes:

· Shaun Venter will be leading the team as the starting scrum half with Rudy Paige providing cover on the bench.
· The two flankers, Junior Pokomela and Abongile Nonkontwana will be switching jerseys.
· Jasper Wiese is new to the bench.
· Ernst Stapelberg will be providing cover for Tian Schoeman.

Toyota Cheetahs

1 Ox Nche (35)
2 Joseph Dweba (14)
3 Aranos Coetzee (35)
4 Sintu Manjezi (6)
5 Walt Steenkamp (12)
6 Abongile Nonkontwana (8)
7 Junior Pokomela (24)
8 Gerhard Olivier (13)
9 Shaun Venter (28) – Captain
10 Tian Schoeman (13)
11 Rabz Maxwane (11)
12 Nico Lee (26)
13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg (13)
14 William Small-Smith (28)15 Malcolm Jaer (13)
16 Reinach Venter (5)
17 Charles Marais (33)
18 Luan de Bruin (5)
19 JP du Preez (12)
20 Jasper Wiese (4)
21 Niell Jordaan (8)
22 Rudy Paige (3)
23 Ernst Stapelberg (7)