Cape Town – Cheetahs coach, Franco Smith, has named his lineup to face the Stormers in a Super Rugby pre-season friendly encounter to be played in Harare on Saturday, January 28.
The clash is part of the ‘Super Rugby Weekend’ which will also see the Bulls taking on the Lions on the same day.
The Cheetahs will be captained by lock Reniel Hugo and the team includes winger Ryno Benjamin, centre Michael van der Spuy and flyhalf Fred Zeilinga.
Smith has also named a strong bench including Springboks Oupa Mahoje and Francois Uys.
According to the Free State Cheetahs website , the team will leave for Harare on Friday morning and will remain in Zimbabwe until Wednesday.
Earlier, Stormers coach Robbie Fleck named his 35-man touring party for the trip to Zimbabwe.
Fleck is hoping to see that all the hard work put in during the off-season will show on the field.
“We have changed the way we have approached our pre-season preparations, so I am looking forward to seeing the results of that out on the pitch in Harare,” Fleck told the Stormers’ official website .
“There is a lot of talent in this squad, so it is about translating that into some good rugby which will give us a good chance to reflect and see where we are at. ”
The match kicks off at 15:15 on Saturday afternoon.
Teams
Free State Cheetahs
15 Ryno Eksteen, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Nico Lee, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Lihleli Xoli, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 JP Smith, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Boom Prinsloo, 5 Reniel Hugo (captain), 4 Justin Basson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Elandré Huggett, 1 Danie Mienie.
Substitutes: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 Dennis Visser, 20 Francois Uys, 21 Jasper Wiese, 22 Oupa Mohoje, 23 Steven Meiring, 24 Tian Meyer, 25 Clinton Swart, 26 Ali Mgijima, 27 Clayton Blommetjies, 28 Raymond Rhule, 29 Jacques du Toit, 30 Aranos Coetzee, 31. Zee Mkhabela
Stormers
TBA
