Rugby
Van Wyk set for Cheetahs debut─── 13:49 Tue, 14 Apr 2015
The Toyota Cheetahs have made just one change to their team to face the Reds on Saturday evening in the Super Rugby.
Following the gruelling tour in New Zealand and Australia, which produced losses to the Crusaders, Chiefs and Brumbies, the side are happy to be back in town.
They have taken confidence from their 24-15 win over the Western Force on Saturday are looking to refrain from being complacent when they face the bottom-of-the-log Queenslanders.
With small margins between the top and bottom teams, a slight slip can prove costly.
Coach Naka Drotské said their win on Saturday was very important.
“It was really important, it was a tough tour for us. We played against some tough teams, it’s never easy playing the Crusaders, Chiefs and Brumbies, easily away. We needed the win urgently, it’s really important for the rest of our campaign.
“You could see today in the way the players trained, there was a lot of intensity and we look forward to the rest of the season,” Drotské said.
It’s not going to be an easy game they’ve got a lot of game-breakers. They’ve got two of their best players coming back for this weekend.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we need to two, there’s no doubt about that. If we play the way we now we can and stick to our structures then we can win, it’s in our hands on Saturday.
The only change to the weekends’ side sees Springbok fullback Willie le Roux being rested for a second of his three weeks as mandated by SARU.
This paves the way for Coenie van Wyk to make his Cheetahs debut in the number 15 jersey on Saturday.
Drotské feels that Clayton Blommetjies struggled on tour, but said it was a close call between the two players. He also is of the view that he will make a better combination with flyhalf Joe Pietersen, due to the fact that he is a left footed kicker.
Last weekend, Van Wyk scored 20 points for the Toyota Free State XV in the Vodacom Cup, during their 35-18 win over the Sharks XV in Kokstad.
The last time the two teams played in Bloemfontein was in 2013, with the Cheetahs winning the match 27-13, while in Brisbane last year the Reds scored 5 tries to 3 for a 43-33 win.
Saturday evening’s match at the Free State Stadium kicks off at 19:10.
Toyota Cheetahs - 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 11 Joe Pietersen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Boom Prinsloo, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Francois Uys (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements - 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Danie Minnie, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Tienie Burger, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Willie du Plessis, 23 Rayno Benjamin.
Morgan Piek / OFM News
