Botha was named at outside centre for the must-win match in Bloemfontein, while the inside centre, Siya Masuku, as well as the flyhalf Brandon Thomson and the replacement scrumhalf, Zinedine Booysen, are all on debut as well.

The match will no doubt be an emotional one for Botha, but he told OFM Sport that he is excited.

“I'm over the moon and can't wait to get on the field. It's been a long time since the last game and I'm really eager to go out and play.

“I'm really just grateful and thankful to everybody in the team and to the coaches for giving me a chance.

“I can't to go on the field and have a lot of fun with the boys.”

This game at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 16:00 on Friday afternoon and you will be able to stream live commentary via ofm.co.za or the free app.

Toyota Cheetahs - 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Lesley Botha, 12 Siya Masuku, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Jeandré Rudolph, 5 Jean Drosté, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni.

Replacements - 16 Chucky van der Westhuizen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Beertjie van Vuuren, 19 Victor Sekekete, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Mihali Mosi, 22 Zinedine Booysen, 23 Malcolm Jaer.

Pumas – 15 Devon Williams, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Erich Cronjé, 12 Matt More, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 4 Brandon Valentyn, 3 Ig Prinsloo, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Dewald Maritz.

Replacements – 16 HP van Schoor, 17 Ruan Kramer, 18 Eduan Swart, 19 Kwanda Dimaza, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Wayne van der Bank, 23 Sebastian de Klerk.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport