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Cape Town - Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has explained his decision after he made two changes to the team that beat Western Province at Newlands last weekend.
Free State take on the table-topping Golden Lions at the Free State Stadium on Saturday.
The Cheetahs' victory margin of 14 points against WP was also their biggest ever recorded over WP at Newlands in 117 years.
Loose forward Philip van der Walt comes back into the team and replaces Boom Prinsloo at flank, with the latter shifting to the bench, while Johan Wessels drops out of the match-day 22 altogether.
Van der Walt returns after a mild concussion he sustained in his team's 22-all draw at home against the Blue Bulls on September 10.
Francois Uys also replaces Wilhelm Steenkamp at lock.
Drotské admitted it was a tough decision to make - especially after good performances from all his players against WP.
Prinsloo and Wessels performed remarkably well over the weekend and can consider themselves unlucky.
Prinsloo - who remains on the bench - will play his last game for the Cheetahs this season when he comes on against the Lions.
He is contracted to the Blitzbokke and his contract only allows him one more game this weekend. He is one of the top try scorers in the Currie Cup with five touch-downs.
But Drotské told the Volksblad newspaper that the determining factor in his selection changes was competitiveness in the lineouts.
Van der Walt and Lappies Labuschagne's lineout prowess gave them the nod over Prinsloo and Wessels.
"With Lappies and Philip available, we have two players who could be utilised in this department.
"Boom will in any case make a good impact in the second half," said Drotské.
The coach was also impressed with Uys's physicality at lock when he came on against WP and has therefore given him the nod ahead of Steenkamp for this week.
"We liked that (physicality) about him (against WP)," said Drotské.
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Ryno Benjamin, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Philip Snyman, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe
Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Andries Strauss
Golden Lions:
TBA
Free State take on the table-topping Golden Lions at the Free State Stadium on Saturday.
The Cheetahs' victory margin of 14 points against WP was also their biggest ever recorded over WP at Newlands in 117 years.
Loose forward Philip van der Walt comes back into the team and replaces Boom Prinsloo at flank, with the latter shifting to the bench, while Johan Wessels drops out of the match-day 22 altogether.
Van der Walt returns after a mild concussion he sustained in his team's 22-all draw at home against the Blue Bulls on September 10.
Francois Uys also replaces Wilhelm Steenkamp at lock.
Drotské admitted it was a tough decision to make - especially after good performances from all his players against WP.
Prinsloo and Wessels performed remarkably well over the weekend and can consider themselves unlucky.
Prinsloo - who remains on the bench - will play his last game for the Cheetahs this season when he comes on against the Lions.
He is contracted to the Blitzbokke and his contract only allows him one more game this weekend. He is one of the top try scorers in the Currie Cup with five touch-downs.
But Drotské told the Volksblad newspaper that the determining factor in his selection changes was competitiveness in the lineouts.
Van der Walt and Lappies Labuschagne's lineout prowess gave them the nod over Prinsloo and Wessels.
"With Lappies and Philip available, we have two players who could be utilised in this department.
"Boom will in any case make a good impact in the second half," said Drotské.
The coach was also impressed with Uys's physicality at lock when he came on against WP and has therefore given him the nod ahead of Steenkamp for this week.
"We liked that (physicality) about him (against WP)," said Drotské.
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Ryno Benjamin, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Philip Snyman, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe
Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Andries Strauss
Golden Lions:
TBA
