Brenden Nel - SuperSport

Johannesburg - Still on a high after beating the Crusaders this past weekend, the Toyota Cheetahs were dealt a double blow as they lost two of their stars from the performance to injury.

Springbok Henrich Brussow is the biggest casualty, his second since returning to the field a few months ago as he pulled a hamstring and is set to miss the next three to four weeks of Vodacom Super Rugby action.

Brussow had returned from a long term injury a few weeks into the competition, and injured himself again. This time he had only been on the field for three weeks, but thankfully for his Springbok aspirations the injury isn’t too serious.

The Cheetahs also lost lock Waltie Vermeulen, who has concussion after falling badly in a lineout.

This leaves coach Naka Drotske with a bit of a headache after the victory, as he would ideally have liked to keep the same team together for this weekend’s clash against the Melbourne Rebels. If the Cheetahs take the scalp of Super Rugby’s newest team, they will score their fourth straight win in the competition.

“Its disappoint for us, but I think even more frustrating for Heinrich,” Drotske told SuperSport.com about Brussow’s injury.

While their team will only be known Tuesday, it seems as if Martin Muller will return to the lock position for Vermeulen, while Johan Wessels will come onto the bench for the Cheetahs to cover Brussow’s injury, with Kabamba Floors likely to slot into Brussow’s place in the starting line-up.

The only other possible change could be Corne Uys’ return for Barry Geel, who played excellently against the Crusaders in Uys’ absence.