Last week the Cheetahs came from behind to edge Kings right at the death at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, and typical of any derby things got a little heated at times.

The Kings coach got stunk into the Cheetahs during the post-match conference and singled out the lock, Sintu Manjezi, in particular.

“All of the niggle came from their side completely, and specifically Sintu Manjezi. The manner in which he behaved was disgusting.

“The referee allowed him to get away with it from the start of the game to the end.

“All the scuffles were started by the Cheetahs. If that’s the way they want to play, my team can do exactly the same.

“I am very happy for some confrontation. They can expect us to come hard at them, there is no doubt.

“The time of us sitting back and taking abuse from teams week-in-and-week-out, has come to an end.”

The Cheetahs have welcomed challenge that has been thrown down and in Bloemfontein, they will be all too happy to oblige.

The home team has been boosted with the return of the fiery loose-forward, Jasper Wiese, who has completed his three-match suspension. Wiese will bring a lot of physicality to the game, and he has been missed by the Cheetahs during their last three matches.

The man singled out by Kempson, Manjezi, may however not be available for the match in the City of Roses. Manjezi, who hails from the Eastern Cape and also played for the Kings at the stage, injured his shoulder late in the past weekend’s clash and the Cheetahs are sweating over his availability.

The loosehead prop, Charles Marais, is available for selection, however, the centre Dries Swanepoel will miss out on a return this week after picking up another ankle niggle during the second-stringers' contact session against the Maties last week.

Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that Wiese will play this week, but there is doubt over Manjezi.

“We missed him quite a bit. He is a skillful player with power and speed, so he brings a lot to the table. He will be back this weekend and we are looking forward to that.

“On the other hand, Sintu might miss the game because he still injured. Its gain one, lose one.

“They definitely one the contact battle in the first half. We spoke about that at half time and made the step-up in the second half.

“If we can just get a bit more continuity and play through more phases and stretch their defense I am pretty sure we will get the line-breaks and tries we need to score.”

The Springbok scrumhalf, Ruan Pienaar, is also expected to start this week and he will also bring a lot to the party. His calmness under pressure was hugely instrumental during the Cheetahs late surge last week.

Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated derby at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein kicks off at 17:00.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport