Cape Town - Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské will be hoping his team shows more commitment on defence when they host the Force at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Last weekend the Cheetahs missed too many tackles in their 36-33 defeat to the Highlanders, especially in the last 25 minutes, when the visitors were trailing 30-9.

A week earlier, the Cheetahs conceded five tries as they lost 39-33 at home to the Chiefs. Even in their impressive round six victory over the Hurricanes in Wellington (47-38), they conceded four tries.

Even though the Force have not been the most prolific try-scorers in 2012, the Cheetahs will not take Saturday’s match lightly.

The Force have only scored 17 tries, the same number as the Reds, and only one more than the Stormers (16), the Blues (15), and the Rebels and Lions (12 each).

“By this time we all know there is no such thing as a good or a bad side,” said Naka Drotské.

“The Force showed last weekend against the Stormers that they have a good defensive pattern and that they can attack. They are a very physical team and if we want to win, we’ll have to be 100% switched on.

“In the last 20 to 30 minutes last week, some players made individual errors on the defence that cost us. This week we’ve worked very hard at eradicating those mistakes.”

Kick-off is at 19:10 on Saturday evening.

Teams:

Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cameron Jacobs, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Tewis de Bruyn, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 George Earle, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen

Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Andries Ferreira, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Riaan Smit, 22 Philip Snyman

Force:
TBA