The Toyota Cheetahs will be targeting a strong start to their season when they tackle Zebre on Saturday afternoon in Parma during the opening round of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

The Cheetahs are quietly confident they can secure a win tomorrow, although they will go into the game as the underdogs, and this is due to a lack of game time.

The Cheetahs do have their strongest available squad for the game, and they are ready.

The exciting Cheetahs outside back Tapiwa Mafura told OFM Sport that they are excited.

“The boys are really looking forward to the game tomorrow and excited for the season to start,” said Mafura.

“There is no room for error at all because there is only four games and you can't make any mistakes. You have got to give it your all and win as much as you can - that is the only way to get to the playoffs.

“We really want to go a step further than last season when we reached the top sixteen.”

Saturday’s game in Parma kicks off at 15:00. Meanwhile, at 17:15 the Sharks face Section Paloise in Durban, and on Sunday at 15:00, Perpignan will face the Lions in France.

Zebre - 15 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 14 Jacopo Trulla, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Franco Smith, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Tiff Eden, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Giovanni Licata, 7 Jacopo Bianchi, 6 Giacomo Ferrari, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dave Sisi, 3 Juan-Manuel Pitinari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Danilo Fischetti

Replacements – 16 Giampietro Ribaldi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 Guido Volpi, 20 Taina Fox-Matamua, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Fetuli Paea, 23 Jake Polledri

Cheetahs - 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Siba Xamlashe, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 George Lourens, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Laurence Victor, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Replacements - 16 Chucky van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Carl Wegener, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Ali Mgijima

Morgan Piek OFM Sport