Cape Town - Free State Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has named his team for Saturday’s Currie Cup Premier Division clash against the Blue Bulls in Bloemfontein (17:10 kick-off).
Smith has made a few changes to the team that beat the Boland Cavaliers 44-16 in Wellington last weekend.
Up front, Torsten van Jaarsveld replaces Joseph Dweba at hooker.
In the backline, Tian Meyer starts at scrumhalf in place of Shaun Venter, while Rayno Benjamin replaces the injured Sergeal Petersen on the wing.
Petersen injured his knee against Boland and will be sidelined for at least three weeks.
Maphutha Dolo takes Benjamin’s spot on the bench, while Niel Marais also replaces Sias Ebersohn as flyhalf reserve.
Teams:
Free State
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Williams Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Justin Basson, 19 Henco Venter, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Niel Marais, 22 Maphutha Dolo
Blue Bulls
15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Dan Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Entienne Swanepoel, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Martin Dreyer, 18 RG Snyman, 19 Hanro Liebenberg, 20 Andre Warner, 21 Joshua Stander, 22 Duncan Matthews