Cheetahs farewell for Cape-bound Rhule, Petersen

Bloemfontein - Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has named his squad for their upcoming tour to Europe.

The Cheetahs will play two PRO14 games - against Italian side Zebre in Parma (October 28) and Irish side Connacht in Galway (November 4).

Wing Raymond Rhule and utility back Sergeal Petersen will play their final game for the Cheetahs against Zebre this Saturday, before returning to South Africa where they will join up with their new franchise, the Stormers and Western Province in Cape Town.

The Cheetahs announced that the duo will be contracted to the Cape franchise from November 1.

After a tough start, the Cheetahs have found their feet in their first season of PRO14.

Six rounds of fixtures into the competition, they find themselves in third position in Conference A with three wins and three losses.

The group stages of the PRO14 will run until the end of April next year.

The Cheetahs squad will depart for Italy on Tuesday.

Cheetahs squad:

Forwards

Charles Marais, Ox Nche, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Jacques du Toit, Joseph Dweba, Aranos Coetzee, Tom Botha, Luan de Bruin, Justin Basson, Reniel Hugo, Rynier Bernardo, Paul Schoeman, Henco Venter, Junior Pokomela, Oupa Mohoje

Backs

Tian Meyer, Shaun Venter, Ernst Stapelberg, Fred Zeilinga, Makazole Mapimpi, William Small-Smith, Francois Venter (captain), Nico Lee, Raymond Rhule, Sergeal Petersen, Luther Obi, Ali Mgijima