Cheetahs make mass changes for Lions

Cape Town - Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has announced his team for their Currie Cup clash against the Golden Lions in Bloemfontein on Saturday (17:15 kick-off).

Duncan has made several changes to the team that beat the Blue Bulls 41-40 in Pretoria last weekend.

In the front row, Charles Marais starts at loosehead prop, with Ox Nche providing cover on the bench, while Aranos Coetzee also replaces Tom Botha at tighthead.

In the second row, Justin Basson replaces Armandt Koster and Reniel Hugo comes in for Rynier Bernardo.

In the loose trio, Paul Schoeman is back in the No 6 jersey, while Gerhard Olivier replaces Oupa Mohoje on the other flank.
 
Niell Jordaan replaces Jasper Wiese at No 8 and also takes over the captaincy from Francois Venter.

In the backline, Tian Meyer returns to the starting line-up at scrumhalf, moving Zee Mkhabela to the bench.

At flyhalf, Robbie Petzer will be making his Currie Cup debut, replacing the injured Ryno Eksteen.

Ali Mgijima will be also making his Currie Cup debut, replacing William Small-Smith at inside centre, with the latter moving to outside centre in place of Venter.

Rosko Specman also moves into the starting line-up at right wing, while Sergeal Petersen replaces Clayton Blommetjies at fullback, with Cecil Afrika providing cover on the bench.

Wing Rayno Benjamin is also a new addition to the bench.

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs

15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 William Small Smith, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robbie Petzer, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Niell Jordaan (captain), 7 Gerhard Olivier, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Charles Marais

Substitutes: 16 Retshegofaditswe Nche, 17 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 18 Rynier Bernardo, 19 Jasper Wiese, 20 Zee Mkhabela, 21 Rayno Benjamin, 22 Cecil Afrika

Golden Lions

15 Jaco van der Walt, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Harold Vorster, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Ashlon Davids, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 James Venter, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Jacques van Rooyen, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Corne Fourie

Substitutes: 16 Pieter Jansen, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Rhyno Herbst, 19 Hacjivah Dayimani, 20 Bradley Thain, 21 Stokkies Hanekom, 22 Aphiwe Dyantyi