The Cheetahs announced the tournament last week, where there will be R250 000 up for grabs for the winner of each of the matches, while there will also be incentives for the players that perform.

The Cheetahs will measure themselves against the Stormers, Sharks, Diables Barcelona, and Baia Mara.

The Cheetahs centre, David Brits, told OFM Sport that while it’s not the United Rugby Championship, they are excited for the opportunity to play.

“Everyone is extremely excited to pull over the jersey and represent the Free State or the Cheetahs. Although it isn't in the United Rugby Championship, it is an opportunity and we are looking forward to that.

“The whole group is in a good space at the moment. Everyone is working extremely hard and now we have something to work towards instead of just waiting for the Currie Cup next year.”

The former Maties captain added that they can’t dwell on their exclusion from the URC and the focus is on their upcoming games.

“It has been a bit of a challenge watching the URC, but we can only control what we can. We kind of got to put that behind us for the time being and focus on the job at hand, and that is obviously the Toyota Challenge.

“It should be a good challenge to face the Sharks and Stormers. I'm assuming that they will be fielding their strongest teams, so it will be a nice way to measure where we are at the moment.”

The Cheetahs face the Stormers at the Toyota Stadium on 13 November in the first match.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport