Walt Steenkamp will call the lineouts in the number five jersey, and he will be partnered in the second-row by Sintu Manjezi.

Abongile Nonkontwana comes in at flank, while Gerhard Olivier moves to the back of the scrum in the place of Daniel Maartens.

An unchanged backline has been named for the clash, while Niell Jordaan will make his long-awaited return on the bench.

On 6 January the Cheetahs earned a bonus-point 27-12 win against Zebre in Parma. The two teams have met three times in the past, which the Cheetahs winning all three matches. The Cheetahs have faced Italian opposition five times, of which they only lost one game to Benetton Rugby in Treviso.

Saturday afternoons clash at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 15:00.

Toyota Cheetahs - 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Gerhard Olivier, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements – 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Justin Basson, 20 JP du Preez, 21 Niell Jordaan, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Louis Fouché.

Zebre - 15 Francois Brummer, 14 Paula Balekana, 13 James Elliott, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Gabriele Di Giulio, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Joshua Renton, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Johan Meyer, 6 Iacopo Bianchi, 5 George Biagi (captain) 4 Samuele Ortis, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Luhandre Luus, 1 Daniele Rimpelli.

Replacements - 16 Massimo Ceciliani, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Apisai Tauyavuca, 20 James Brown, 21 Riccardo Raffaele, 22 Maicol Azzolini, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport