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Bloemfontein - It's not just the Cheetahs that will benefit from the absence of the Bulls' Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez in Saturday's Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld.
Cheetahs scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius has played himself into the plans of Springbok coach Peter de Villiers this year and has a perfect opportunity to show exactly where he should stand in the South African scrumhalf pecking order.
Pretorius has played excellent rugby throughout the 2011 Super Rugby tournament and his showdown with Francois Hougaard, who has replaced Du Preez, could definitely be seen as a Springbok trial.
The Cheetahs' scrumhalf was recently included in De Villiers's provisional squad of 51 players for the World Cup, but there is lots of competition in the position.
Du Preez is definitely the Boks' leading scrumhalf and probably also the top No 9 in the world, while Hougaard is viewed by many as a worthy successor in the Green and Gold.
But Du Preez, who injured a knee against the Sharks, will continue his career in Japan after this year's World Cup.
Former Springbok scrumhalf Werner Swanepoel believes this will give other players the opportunity to step forward.
Swanepoel believes that Du Preez's absence may just be what Pretorius needs to further prove himself.
"It's going to be a great match. As far as Sarel is concerned, it's actually ideal that Fourie is out. Everybody knows that Fourie is the Boks' number one and Hougaard probably the second choice," he said.
Swanepoel believes a scrumhalf is only allowed to play as well as his forwards allow him to and that will also have a major bearing on the duel between the scrumhalves in this match.
He rates Hougaard highly, but says that Pretorius has also played superbly in this year's Super Rugby tournament.
"Sarel is having an incredible season. He's 27 now and one never knows what will happen after the World Cup. Fourie is going away and that leaves a void for a number of guys to step up," said Swanepoel.
"We're in for a titanic clash and I'm really looking forward to it."
Teams:
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Gerhard van den Heever
Cheetahs:
15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Philip Snyman, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Ashley Johnson, 6 Kabamba Floors, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Lourens Adriaanse, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen/Hendrik Roodt, 19 Johan Wessels, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Hennie Daniller
Bloemfontein - It's not just the Cheetahs that will benefit from the absence of the Bulls' Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez in Saturday's Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld.
Cheetahs scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius has played himself into the plans of Springbok coach Peter de Villiers this year and has a perfect opportunity to show exactly where he should stand in the South African scrumhalf pecking order.
Pretorius has played excellent rugby throughout the 2011 Super Rugby tournament and his showdown with Francois Hougaard, who has replaced Du Preez, could definitely be seen as a Springbok trial.
The Cheetahs' scrumhalf was recently included in De Villiers's provisional squad of 51 players for the World Cup, but there is lots of competition in the position.
Du Preez is definitely the Boks' leading scrumhalf and probably also the top No 9 in the world, while Hougaard is viewed by many as a worthy successor in the Green and Gold.
But Du Preez, who injured a knee against the Sharks, will continue his career in Japan after this year's World Cup.
Former Springbok scrumhalf Werner Swanepoel believes this will give other players the opportunity to step forward.
Swanepoel believes that Du Preez's absence may just be what Pretorius needs to further prove himself.
"It's going to be a great match. As far as Sarel is concerned, it's actually ideal that Fourie is out. Everybody knows that Fourie is the Boks' number one and Hougaard probably the second choice," he said.
Swanepoel believes a scrumhalf is only allowed to play as well as his forwards allow him to and that will also have a major bearing on the duel between the scrumhalves in this match.
He rates Hougaard highly, but says that Pretorius has also played superbly in this year's Super Rugby tournament.
"Sarel is having an incredible season. He's 27 now and one never knows what will happen after the World Cup. Fourie is going away and that leaves a void for a number of guys to step up," said Swanepoel.
"We're in for a titanic clash and I'm really looking forward to it."
Teams:
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Gerhard van den Heever
Cheetahs:
15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Corné Uys, 11 Philip Snyman, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Davon Raubenheimer, 7 Ashley Johnson, 6 Kabamba Floors, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Lourens Adriaanse, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen/Hendrik Roodt, 19 Johan Wessels, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Hennie Daniller
