Cheetahs name side for do-or-die Glasgow clash

Cape Town - Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has named his team for Saturday’s PRO14 encounter against Scottish club Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium.

Smith has made a few changes to the team that lost 19-7 away to Irish side Leinster earlier this month.

Up front, Charles Marais starts at loosehead prop and Marnus van der Merwe at hooker, with Reinach Venter and Joseph Dweba providing cover on the bench.

Sintu Manjezi and Walt Steenkamp form a lock combination, with Justin Basson and JP du Preez providing cover on the bench.

Daniel Maartens will be starting in the No 6 jersey, with Henco Venter at No 8 and Gerhard Oliver on the bench. Junior Pokomela has been sidelined due to a back injury.

In the backline, Malcolm Jaer returns from injury and will be starting at fullback with Louis Fouche on the bench.

It will be a case of do-or-die for the Cheetahs in a match that could seal their fate in the competition.

The teams have met three times before with Glasgow winning all of those encounters, but with their backs against the wall Smith’s men will be desperate to change this.

The Cheetahs will be buoyed by the fact that they have scored only four tries fewer than the hosts this season, but they will have to be sharp in defence after conceding 28 more tries in their 17 matches.

"Glasgow are a good team. It's definitely going to be a tough task out there but the energy around our squad is good," captain Tian Meyer said:

"We demand better quality at training, better quality in the matches, we can see that. We haven’t got the results in the last three games on tour but we’ve really been putting in hard work and it is small things that will make the difference."

Saturday's clash is scheduled for 21:45 (SA time).

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors

TBA

Cheetahs

15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Henco Venter 7 Abongile Nonkontwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Charles Marais

Substitutes: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Reinach Venter, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Justin Basson, 20 JP du Preez, 21 Gerhard Olivier, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Louis Fouche