Cheetahs: No sweat over Rhule at No 15

Cape Town - Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan is confident that Raymond Rhule will do a good job at fullback in their Currie Cup clash against the Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday (17:15 kick-off).

Rhule's inclusion in the last line of defence is an interesting one given his well-documented defensive struggles against the All Blacks in South Africa's 57-0 loss to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship last month.

Duncan told Netwerk24 that Rhule, normally a winger, has played fullback before and he was the best option there after injuries to Sergeal Petersen and Clayton Blommetjies.

“He knows exactly what the position requires of him and he knows what to expect and what is expected of him,” Duncan said.

The Free State team was boosted by several of the Cheetahs’ PRO14 stars, as the European competition breaks for a few weeks.

The men from Bloemfontein are currently third on the Currie Cup log standings, and a victory would guarantee them a spot in the semi-finals.

Teams:

Golden Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Len Massyn, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Jacques van Rooyen (captain)

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Rhyno Herbst, 19 Robert Kruger/Hacjivah Dayimani, 20 Marco Jansen van Vuren 21 Ashlon Davids, 22 Sylvian Mahuza

Free State Cheetahs

15 Raymond Rhule, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Nico Lee, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Oupa Mohoje, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Charles Marais

Substitutes: 16 Ox Nche, 17 Jacques du Toit, 18 Rynier Bernardo, 19 Junior Pokomela, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Ali Mgijima, 22 Luther Obi