The Cheetahs will be heading overseas next week to make their welcome return to a major international competition after being booted out of the then PRO14 in 2020.

The Cheetahs have been hard at work preparing for their trip aboard and for the majority of the team it will be their first European excursion.

In preparation for their return to European rugby the Cheetahs played in warm-up matches against the Sharks in Durban, and the Griffons in Welkom.

The Cheetahs assistant coach, Charl Strydom, told OFM Sport that doing the basics well will put them in good stead.

“It stays a pressure game - whether you're applying pressure on their kicks to make them exit badly to you, and that puts you in a counterattack position.

“I think the England coach, Eddie Jones, mentioned that they lost it against the Springboks in the air and in the scrum battle.

“We all know that's what it going to be over there. It's going to be scrums, it's going to be lineouts and your defence has got to hold up.

“You've got to do the basic things well, and those are the things that I mentioned.”

It is expected that the Cheetahs will name their squad to travel to Europe for the matches against Section Paloise and Scarlets on Wednesday.

Section Paloise tackle the Cheetahs at 15:00 next week Saturday at Stade du Hameau in Pau.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport