De Kock has been on the sidelines for 12 months after injuring his knee against Zimbabwe last year in a warm-up match.

De Kock played just a few minutes in a Cheetahs jersey before getting injured.

De Kock will form the halfback combination with George Lourens, who has also just played a few minutes for the team.

De Kock told OFM Sport that he is raring to go.

"For me, it's really exciting to be in the starting line-up and to be playing in my first game back from my injury," said De Kock.

"It's definitely a big one for me, with Ruan Pienaar being on the bench and for me to get a start. For me, it's quite an achievement.

"My parents are coming to watch me play in Bloemfontein for the first time, so I'm very excited to get to play in front of them again."

Friday evening's Toyota Challenge match at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 18:00.

Toyota Cheetahs - 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 George Lourens, 9 Branden de Kock, 8 Oupa Mohoje, 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Marnus van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Beertjie van Vuuren, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Replacements - 16 Janus Venter, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Jean Drosté, 20 Jeandré Rudolph, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Robert Ebersohn.

USA Falcons - 15 Marcel Brache, 14 Mitch Wilson, 13 Bryce Campbell (captain), 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Christian Dyer, 10 Luke Carty, 9 Nate Augspurger, 8 Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz, 7 Cory Daniel, 6 Viliamo Helu, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Keni Nasoqeqe, 3 Paul Mullen, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 1 Jack Isacaro.

Replacements - 16 Kaleb Geiger, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Angus Maclellan, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Cam Dolan, 21 Duncan van Schalkwyk, 22 Tavite Lopeti, 23 Chris Mattina.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport