The player who was still at school last year was named on the bench for the game in Pretoria.

The former Griqua, Victor Sekekete, will also be on debut for the Cheetahs, after being named on the flank.

The tighthead prop, Khutha Mchunu, also earns his first start for the team after playing all his previous games off the bench.

Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that Cronjé brings new energy to the team.

“Regarding George, he is really excited to get a bit of game time.

“He has trained really well and he brings intensity. Obviously, he is a youthful guy, so he is full of energy, which helped this week.

“I was really satisfied with the whole week's training with the vibe and the energy in the squad.

“The guys who have had very like game time or nothing at all up to now are very excited to get stuck in.”

Saturday’s game at Loftus Versfeld kicks off at 16:30.

Toytoa Free State Cheetahs - 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Howard Mnisi, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Victor Sekekete, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Carl Wegner (captain), 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Khutha Mchunu, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Boan Venter.

Replacements - 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Chris Massyn, 20 George Cronjé, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 William Small-Smith.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport