The Cheetahs centre, Evardi Boshoff, scored a hat-trick of tries, while the man of the match, Lohan Potgieter as well as Enver Brandt, Mosolwa Mafuma and Lesley Botha all crossed the whitewash on two occasions.

For Diables it was their first game ever and they only got together on Monday for the first time to prepare for the match against the Cheetahs.

While it was tough baptism of fire for the Catalan team, they did have a few good passages of play and their scrum stood up well to that of the Cheetahs.

That said, the vast majority of their players hail from South Africa.

A red card to the Canadian-born scrumhalf, Sean Snyman, in the 6th minute of the game for a dangerous tip-tackle didn’t make matters easier for the Diables.

While it was a second-string side fielded by the Cheetahs they are happy to have had a run-out heading into the game against the Sharks.

The Sharks have indicated that they will be sending a strong team to Bloemfontein for Saturday’s game and they could field the Springbok duo of Sbu Nkosi and Aphelele Fassi.

The Cheetahs will name their side for the game on Thursday and it can be expected to look totally different to the one that beat Barcelona on Wednesday.

Saturday’s game against the Sharks at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 14:00

Scorers:

Cheetahs: Tries – Enver Brandt 2, Lohan Potgieter 2, Evardi Boshoff 3, Zinedine Booysen, Mosolwa Mafuma 2, Lesley Botha 2, Reinier Viljoen, Oupa Mohoje, Janus Venter Conv. – Brandon Thomson 12

Diables: Tries – Edrich Brand, Tiisetso Yika Conv. – Hanno van Biljon 1 Pen. – Van Biljon 1

Morgan Piek OFM Sport