The South African franchise were rugby pioneers over the past seven months after becoming the first ever South African team, along with the Southern Kings to compete in Europe.

After receiving the boot from Super Rugby in 2017, the outgoing Cheetahs coach, Rory Duncan, saw an opportunity for the team to move into the Northern Hemisphere and thus a seeded was planted for South African teams to play in the Pro14.

After the Kings were pretty much stripped of the majority of the players by Super Ruby franchises in somewhat of player feeding-frenzy it was came as no surprise that the team did struggle and managed just a single win. However, even with all their losses the team is a better place than they were a year ago.

The Cheetahs in their turn exceeded everyone’s expectations by reaching the play-offs, and along the way gained fans in Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

While the team fell horribly short with a heavy 43-8 defeat to Scarlets in the semi-final qualifier on Saturday, they do consider their campaign to be successful.

“We’re happy to have finished in the position where we did, and to make the play-offs,” said Rory Duncan.

“The last game is obviously not that way we wanted it to go, and how we expected it to, but we don’t look at just the one game, we look at the twenty-two games that we played throughout the season.

“I believe that we have a seen a lot of growth in the team and a lot of growth in the individuals as players, and the same can be said for the coaches. To sum up the season, I believe that it was a success.”

Following the Scarlets win over the Cheetahs in Llanelli on Saturday, the CEO of Celtic Rugby and the Pro14, Martin Anayi, took to Twitter to congratulate the defending champions on their win, and in the same breath lauded the side from Bloemfontein for their season.

“Congrats to victors @scarlets_rugby but huge credit to @CheetahsRugby who have been v. impressive all season (long!) playing awesome style of rugby whilst the nicest guys you will ever meet - good luck Rory for your new adventure this wouldn’t have been a reality without you #oaks” the Tweet read.

Duncan, being ever humbled and shying away from blowing his own trumpet said Anayi deserves the credit for their inclusion.

“Someone like Martin needs to be credited for this, because he is the one who had an open-mind and was willing to engage with us and consider the Cheetahs as part of the Pro14.

“To be a part of the start of the process and then to finish off the season the way we did makes us very happy.”

While the Cheetahs are still ineligible to qualify for the lucrative European or Challenge Cup at this stage, this is what the franchise is striving towards.

There have already been calls from rugby fans and lovers from abroad for the Cheetahs to compete in the top tier of European Rugby. There have been questions from the South about the quality of the Pro14, however, considering that three of the four teams in the European Cup semi-finals are Pro14 teams, it is really a weak argument. On top of that the Cheetahs did beat two of those teams, Leinster and Scarlets.

Duncan concluded by saying that Free State and Cheetahs rugby would benefit enormously of a financial point of view by competing in the tournament formally known as the Heineken Cup.

“The Cheetahs entering the European Cup will change the face of Cheetahs Rugby.

“The Pro14 is a part of that process, it’s the start towards the European Cup, and once we are able to play in the European Cup, I believe that the financial impact will allow us to do better recruitment, and get more quality players, and like I say I believe that it will change the face of Free State Rugby.”

The possibility of the Cheetahs competing in the competition is not a far-fetched idea at all and this may be happening sooner rather than later. However, European or Challenge Cup rugby is next level stuff, and the Cheetahs will be doing themselves a huge far by coming up with a plan to perform more consistently overseas. 

To quote the Special Air Service motto - "Who Dares Wins". 

Morgan Piek OFM Sport