Cape Town - Free State Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has named his team for Saturday’s Currie Cup final against the Blue Bulls in Bloemfontein.
Smith made one change to the team that beat the Golden Lions 55-17 in last weekend’s semi-finals.
Charles Marais starts ahead of Ox Nche at loosehead prop.
Nche suffered a leg injury in the game against the Lions and felt discomfort in training throughout the week, but has been named on the bench.
The Cheetahs were also boosted by the inclusion of centre Nico Lee and flank Paul Schoeman.
Both players have recovered in time from ankle niggles.
Saturday’s final kicks off at 16:00.
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Nico Lee, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes: Jacques du Toit, Ox Nche, Armandt Koster, Henco Venter, Tian Meyer, Fred Zeilinga, Rayno Benjamin, Conrad van Vuuren
Blue Bulls
15 Ulrich Beyers, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Martin Dreyer, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Nic de Jager, 20 Hanro Liebenberg, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Joshua Stander, 23 Bjorn Basson