The side from the Free State has not been able to chalk up a win on tour, however, they do believe that this week presents a golden opportunity.

The conditions in Wales and Scotland have not been conducive to their trademark running rugby, but the weather forecast for this week in Swansea looks good.

The Cheetahs' analyst and defensive coach, Charl Strydom, told OFM Sport that it was more so the wind than the rain that has affected the Cheetahs, and this week they have trained for an expansive game.

“We’re struggling to adapt to what we are getting over here. I think the wind is the biggest factor, not necessarily the rain.

“Then it was also getting used to those 4G pitches (artificial surfaces). The scrumming is a bit different for the guys there.

“It’s not necessarily the handling that is letting us down, it’s more the way that we play in the weather, especially with the winds.

“Over the weekend when Glasgow played with the wind they just kept on sticking the ball in behind us. They had a lot more kicks than what we did and they forced the errors in our own half.

“That is something that we’ve got to start doing more to other teams as well. You know, kick it in behind and keep on putting on pressure.

“The times that we did pin them there we just revealed the pressure by conceding stupid penalties like high tackles or not rolling away.

“This is a weekend that we feel that the weather conditions will allow us to play a bit more. We haven’t hit our straps yet on attack and that is something that we spoke about.

“We’re based in Edinburgh for the week and we’ve actually had some really good weather. The way we’ve trained on the attack is to go full-out by trying to keep the ball in play for as long as possible and to try to tire them out and force them into making mistakes.

“It is definitely a better and more ball-in-hand approach and I think the weather conditions will allow it.

“Being a slightly earlier game should suit us as well.”

At this stage, there could be three changes to the side which lost to Glasgow last week. Clayton Blommetjies is battling with a slight niggle and is 50/50 at the moment. A change in the back-row is on the cards and Aranos Coetzee should start at tighthead prop in the place of the injured Luan de Bruin.

The coach, Rory Duncan, will name his side for the match on Friday afternoon.

Kick-off at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening is at 19:30.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport