Share

No S15 rotation for Cheetahs

Cape Town - While the top teams will use a rotation policy in Super Rugby, the Cheetahs will be eager to make sure their top players remain injury-free.

The Stormers and the Bulls earlier this week indicated that they will constantly rotate their players this season in order to prevent injuries.

However, the Cheetahs will be using a slightly different approach as they don't possess the luxuries of some of the top teams.

"Our success depends more on if our top players get injured or not," the Cheetahs' assistant coach, Hawies Fourie, told the Volksblad website.

"If guys like Adriaan Strauss, Coenie Oosthuizen, Johan Goosen, Heinrich Brüssow and Juan Smith get injured then we'll have problems.

"The Stormers finished top of the log last year and this year they've also been boosted by six good players from the Lions," said Fourie.

This difference will already be highlighted when the two teams meet in a warm-up game in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The Stormers will be playing without several of their stars like Deon Fourie, Siya Kolisi and Elton Jantjies, but they'll still be fielding a starting team with six Springboks.

The Cheetahs, on the other hand, have only seven Springboks in their entire Super Rugby squad, with only hooker Adriaan Strauss starting on Saturday.

Therefore, player rotation won't be a luxury in Bloemfontein this year, but Fourie is nevertheless confident they'll perform better in 2013. He predicts a tough game on Saturday though, with the Cheetahs intending to of field their best side only next week against the Bulls in Polokwane.

"The Stormers' team is almost the one which won the Currie Cup as Western Province last year, but I do expect a better effort from us than against the Lions (a 17-33 loss) last week," said Fourie.

"We we're very poor last week."

Kick-off at the Free State Stadium is at 17:00 on Saturday, with the match to be broadcasted live on SuperSport.

Teams:

Cheetahs:

15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Riaan Smit, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Phillip van der Walt, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Doppies Vermeulen, 4 Rynhardt Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor Nyakane.

Substitutes: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Caylib Oosthuizen, 18. Lood de Jager, 19. Francois Uys, 20. Frans Viljoen, 21. Juan Smith, 22. Lappies Labuschagne, 23. Piet van Zyl, 24. Elgar Watts, 25. Barry Geel, 26. Willie le Roux, 27. Hansie Graaff

Stormers:

15. Jaco Taute, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Kurt Coleman, 9. Louis Schreuder, 8. Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7. Don Armand, 6. Nizaam Carr, 5. De Kock Steenkamp, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Martin Bezuidenhout, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Stephan Coetzee, 17. Pat Cilliers, 18. Ruan Botha, 19. Michael Rhodes, 20. Rayn Smid, 21. Dewaldt Duvenage, 22. Pat Howard, 23. Gerhard van den Heever, 24. Joe Pietersen

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1271 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1469 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2240 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE