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Bloemfontein - Blue Bulls coach Pine Pienaar hopes their loose trio will hold up against the Cheetahs when they square up in the second round of this season's Currie Cup competition in Bloemfontein on Friday night.
The Bulls will be without injured flanker Arno Botha who was one of the key players in their 35-20 victory over Griquas in Pretoria last week.
He is likely to be missed against a Free State side that boasts a loose trio consisting of the unpredictable Kabamba Floors, burly Frans Viljoen and Lappies Labuschagne.
Pienaar had hoped Botha would recover after he limped off the field against Griquas, but the busy loose forward has been replaced by experienced youngster CJ Stander.
"We are of course very sad to loose Arno to injury," Piennaar said.
"Our loose trio did very well against Griquas and we were hoping to field the same side, but CJ did very well when he came onto the field and he deserves a chance."
Pienaar was pleased with his side's first performance in their opening match of the competition, but he believed it was crucial to build momentum against the Cheetahs.
"Once you've come into some rhythm, that is something you need to keep going," he said.
"We had a good start and are keen to build on that."
Cheetahs captain Robert Ebersohn said they hoped to find some form of their own after going down 43-20 against title holders the Lions in Johannesburg last week.
"We weren't happy with our performance against the Lions," Ebersohn said.
"But we've put that behind us and now look forward to taking on the Bulls at home.
"Our defence will have to be better and our discipline impeccable.
"The Bulls showed against Griquas that they will take advantage of any opportunity."
Teams:
Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Robert Ebersohn (captain), 12 Barry Geel, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Kabamba Floors, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Substitutes: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Francois Uys, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Philip Snyman, 22 Nico Scheepers.
Blue Bulls:
15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Clayton Blommetjies, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 CJ Stander, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Warwick Tecklenburg, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Jan Serfontein
