Publications
Partners
Melbourne - The Cheetahs are waiting on news of prop Coenie Oosthuizen as they prepare to name their side to face the Melbourne Rebels this weekend.
Oosthuizen has a foot injury and coach Naka Drotske has said he will give the burly prop as much time as he needs to regain his fitness to try and face the Rebels with a fully-fit squad in a game the Cheetahs desperately want to win.
The team will welcome back Andries Strauss from a two week suspension for his tip-tackle on Wikus van Heerden in round one, giving them an automatic boost after the disappointment of losing in the last minute against the Brumbies.
While there is still some unhappiness at the way the game swung against them, and now news that SANZAR will investigate the spate of scrum penalties that went against the Cheetahs from referee Keith Brown, the Bloemfontein side need to put it behind them as they try and get a positive result from their tour.
“We need to move on,” Drotske said, “Despite our disappointment we need to pick ourselves up and face the next challenge. Hopefully if Coenie can recover from his injury, we will have a 100% fit squad.
“We’re also very happy to have Andries Strauss back, he is one of our leaders and a senior player in the line-up, so his experience will be invaluable.”
Other than these two injuries, the Cheetahs will not be making drastic changes to their line-up for the Rebels, but they will be wishing for some luck in the game.
“I hope our luck turns, it will be great to win a game in the last minute for a change, but hopefully we can rectify the situation ourselves. The Rebels were good against the Reds, and they are certainly a better team than they were two weeks ago, so we will have to be playing well.”
