The Toyota Cheetahs are bolstered with the return of two solid loose forwards for Friday’s Currie Cup derby against the Suzuki Griquas in Kimberley.

Friedle Olivier and Jeandré Rudolph return from concussion and injury. Rudolph had a quad niggle in the must-must game, while Olivier will play off the bench.

Rudolph will form the loose trio with Aidon Davis and Gideon van der Merwe, while the Springbok, Oupa Mohoje, moves to the bench.

In the backline, Evardi Boshoff is out with a foot injury, and this sees Munier Hartzenberg moving to the outside centre. Cohen Jasper moves from fullback to the wing, while Litha Nkula will don the number 15 jersey again.

Litha Nkula. Photo: Morgan Piek

This has led to the Junior Springbok Michael Annies being named on the bench. The tighthead prop, Laurence Victor, has recovered from his injury and he will make his return off the bench as well.

Olivier told OFM Sport that it will no doubt be a tough outing in the Diamond City, but a win is a non-negotiable.

“It is going to be a tough one Kimberley tomorrow,” said Olivier.

“We know what we need to do, unfortunately over the last two weeks it didn’t go our way. We know what to do, and we know how to do it. We know we need to start better and we know we need to be disciplined.

“We must just show up tomorrow afternoon and do what we need to do. We know how important this is, we shot ourselves in the foot a bit by losing those previous two games. To stay alive in the competition we need to win.

“I have all my trust in the boys, I know we’re going to pull it through. It’s going to be tough, there in Kimberley, especially on their home field. But it’s going to be a ‘lekker’; one as well, and it’s going to be a ‘lekker’ challenge.”

Regarding his recent concussion, the big ball carrier who played in Siberia said he hopes that the injuries are done for now and he can play more consistently.

“I’m very excited to make my return to play. I’ve been struggling with injuries over the last few months. It has been on and off, so this time hopefully it’s over and there’s not going to be any other niggles or any other problems. Hopefully, I’m back to stay and it’s going to be nice to be on the field again and to play with the boys.

“We’re very excited for tomorrow and I can’t wait.”

Friday’s derby between the Griquas and Cheetahs at the Suzuki Stadium kicks off at 15:00.

Griquas – 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Sako Makata, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Dandré Delport, 1 Leon Lyons

Replacements – 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Jac van der Walt, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 Zinedine Booysen, 23 Jay-Cee Nel

Cheetahs – 15 Litha Nkula, 14 Cohen Jasper, 13 Munier Hartzenberg, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Daniel Kasende, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Corné Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Replacements – 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Laurence Victor, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Michael Annies

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh