The Toyota Cheetahs will enter a new era with the now former head coach, Hawies Fourie, having resigned from his role.

Fourie has been named as the new Boland Cavaliers coach. He spent a total of 13 years at the Cheetahs and won the Currie Cup as an assistant coach, and last year as the head coach.

The former Cheetahs and Edinburgh lock, Izak van der Westhuizen, will be taking over as the interim head coach. While Albert Keuris has been promoted to take care of the backline.

The Cheetahs Director of Rugby, Frans Steyn, told OFM Sport that Van der Westhuizen will take over and it’s an exciting new era for the franchise.

“It's a massive opportunity for Izak,” said the two-time Rugby World Cup winner.

“He has been around the Free State for many years, and it's actually not something that is new to him.

“He knows how the Free State works and he loves it in Bloemfontein. His kids are raised here, and he wants what is the best for the Cheetahs. In that sense, I think that we are very well off at the moment.

“Then it's a good opportunity for Albert as well, he will look after the backline. It's good for myself as well, we're a bunch of new guys so there is a new spirit in the team.

Steyn added that they have some exciting plans going forward with a big emphasis on starting to harvest the local talent through the varsities and school system.

“We're looking forward to seeing where this goes - we've got some great plans. It's not just about the Clermont game, we've got the SA Cup coming up and then the Currie Cup.

“We've also got the Varsities that will be playing in the Varsity Cup from Monday. We're really looking forward to seeing the young guys play and see how we can get them into our system. I think that is one thing we need to get back in the Free State - bringing the guys into the systems that we've got.

“We're looking forward to the year, and like I said, we've got great plans for the future.”

The Cheetahs will tackle the Boland Cavaliers at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on 23 March in round one of the the SA Cup.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport