The match which will be the first in the Toyota Challenge will be the Cheetahs first since they beat the Pumas 25-17 in June to win the Currie Cup for the seventh time.

While the Cheetahs have been in preseason for just about a month, it will be their first match in just short of two months.

The Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that it will be good to measure themselves against a Super Rugby franchise again.

“It will be a good test for us, after the Currie Cup we had a break for about a month and then started with a bit of preseason and then shifted our focus to the Western Force,” said Fourie.

“We might be a bit rusty in the beginning, but I feel that it will be good preparation for us, especially looking forward to the rest of the year with the European Challenge Cup and those kinds of things.”

Fourie added that the Australian franchise from Perth can play good rugby and they have the ability to beat historically stronger teams in the Super Rugby such as the Brumbies.

“We're looking forward to playing against the Force, I watched three of their games in this year’s Super Rugby, and in one of them they beat the Brumbies convincingly with about 15 points.

“The Brumbies were the only Australian team to qualify for the semi-finals. When they are on fire, they are a quality team.”

Next week Friday’s match at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 17:00. The Cheetahs and Force will battle it our again the following in Bloemfontein, while the third and fourth games will be played in Perth at the Lane Group and Revo Fitness Stadiums.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport