Three more Varsity Cup-winning Shimlas stars will be making their Toyota Cheetahs debuts on Friday when they tackle the Border Bulldogs in East London in the penultimate round of the SA Cup.

The centre, Jooste Nel, as well as the lock, Pierre Uys and flyhalf, Ethan Wentzel, will be on debut in the match.

Last week, the loose-forward, Neels Volschenk, made his debut during the 68-17 drubbing of the Valke in Kempton Park, but he misses out this week.

In addition, the former Ireland U19 and Leinster U19 captain, Will Hickey, who is at the Cheetahs on lead from the Ospreys will be on debut at 8th-man, while the loosehead prop, Banele Mthenjane, will play in his first game for the side since joining from the Lions last year.

Another loan player from the Ospreys, Cameron Jones, will also be on debut from the bench.

Nel told OFM Sport that he is ready to get stuck in.

“I’m really excited to get my first professional game as a rugby player and I really hoped that I would get a chance to play in this SA Cup and just to get a bit of game time in this team,” said the big ball-carrier.

“I'm really excited to get going, just to put my foot in the door and to put my hand in the air and show them that I can be a benefit to the team.”

Pierre Uys - Hannes Naudé

The Shimlas captain, Uys, in turn told OFM Sport that this is an opportunity he had been dreaming about for a long time.

“I'm very excited and I'm very grateful for the opportunity,” said the player who led the Shimlas to the Varsity Cup title.

“I've been waiting for such a long time for this opportunity so yeah, I really can't wait for Friday and I'm going to play like I always do and I'm just going to give it my best.”

Wentzel will form the halfback combination with Marco Jansen van Vuren who will be starting at scrumhalf.

Meanwhile, the fleet-footed outside back, Cohen Jasper, makes a welcome return to the team after recovering from an ankle injury he sustained during the ECPR Challenge Cup.

Friday afternoon's game between the Bulldogs and Cheetahs at Police Park kicks off at 15:00.

Cheetahs – 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Cohen Jaspers, 13 Andell Loubser, 12 Joose Nel, 11 Litha Nkula, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Will Hickey, 7 Sibabalo Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Pierre Uys, 3 Justin Forwood, 2 Chucky van der Westhuizen, 1 Banele Mthenjane.

Replacements – 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Cameron Jones, 18 Cameron Dawson, 19 Triston Davies, 20 Sisonke Vumazonke, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Abner van Reenen, 23 Rethabile Mzamo.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport