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Cape Town - The Cheetahs will be looking to build on their longest Super Rugby winning streak, which stretches back to 2009, when they host the Force in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon.
The last time the Western Australians have beaten the Cheetahs, was on 20 February 2009.
Since then, the team from Central South Africa have won three on the trot – two of them in Bloemfontein and once in Perth.
Their next best winning streak is against the Waratahs, whom they last lost to in 2010.
But the Force team of 2014 is a different proposition as they are having one of their best-ever seasons.
The history between the Cheetahs and the Force is very even over the years.
After winning the first four matches between these teams, the Force have lost the next three.
And the points’ difference since 2006 is a mere nine points for an average score of 19-17 to the visitors from Perth.
The Force will also be looking for their first win on South African soil since March 2011, when they beat the Lions at Ellis Park.
"We will be looking to get that win, but we realise we have a lot to work and improve on," said Cheetahs captain Adriaan Strauss this week.
“We need to see an improvement in our play this weekend. Our focus will be on our own game and hopefully the result will come because of that.
"But we know we have to play very well tactically against the Force.
"They have a good kicking game and we need to be right up there on defence and work very hard."
Two former Cheetahs, flyhalf Sias Ebersohn and replacement lock Wilhelm Steenkamp, have been named in the Force’s match-23 for Saturday, where they will be joined by two other South Africans in Marcel Brache and Brynard Stander, while Dane Haylett-Petty was born in Durban.
Furthermore, the Force’s assistant coach David Wessels and their backline coach Kevin Foote are both South African.
Kick-off for Saturday's clash is scheduled for 17:05.
Teams:
Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Raymond Rhule/Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Sarel Pretorius 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Heinrich Brssow, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Waltie Vermeulen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Boela Serfontein, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Cornal Hendricks/Howard Mnisi
Force:
15. Jayden Hayward, 14. Dane Haylett-Petty, 13. Marcel Brache, 12. Kyle Godwin, 11. Nick Cummins, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 9. Ian Prior, 8. Ben McCalman, 7. Matt Hodgson (captain), 6. Angus Cottrell, 5. Sam Wykes, 4. Adam Coleman, 3. Kieran Longbottom, 2. Nathan Charles, 1. Pek Cowan
Substitutes: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Tetera Faulkner, 18. Oli Hoskins, 19. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Justin Turner, 22. Zack Holmes, 23. Chris Tuatara-Morrison
The last time the Western Australians have beaten the Cheetahs, was on 20 February 2009.
Since then, the team from Central South Africa have won three on the trot – two of them in Bloemfontein and once in Perth.
Their next best winning streak is against the Waratahs, whom they last lost to in 2010.
But the Force team of 2014 is a different proposition as they are having one of their best-ever seasons.
The history between the Cheetahs and the Force is very even over the years.
After winning the first four matches between these teams, the Force have lost the next three.
And the points’ difference since 2006 is a mere nine points for an average score of 19-17 to the visitors from Perth.
The Force will also be looking for their first win on South African soil since March 2011, when they beat the Lions at Ellis Park.
"We will be looking to get that win, but we realise we have a lot to work and improve on," said Cheetahs captain Adriaan Strauss this week.
“We need to see an improvement in our play this weekend. Our focus will be on our own game and hopefully the result will come because of that.
"But we know we have to play very well tactically against the Force.
"They have a good kicking game and we need to be right up there on defence and work very hard."
Two former Cheetahs, flyhalf Sias Ebersohn and replacement lock Wilhelm Steenkamp, have been named in the Force’s match-23 for Saturday, where they will be joined by two other South Africans in Marcel Brache and Brynard Stander, while Dane Haylett-Petty was born in Durban.
Furthermore, the Force’s assistant coach David Wessels and their backline coach Kevin Foote are both South African.
Kick-off for Saturday's clash is scheduled for 17:05.
Teams:
Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Raymond Rhule/Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Sarel Pretorius 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Heinrich Brssow, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Waltie Vermeulen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Boela Serfontein, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Cornal Hendricks/Howard Mnisi
Force:
15. Jayden Hayward, 14. Dane Haylett-Petty, 13. Marcel Brache, 12. Kyle Godwin, 11. Nick Cummins, 10. Sias Ebersohn, 9. Ian Prior, 8. Ben McCalman, 7. Matt Hodgson (captain), 6. Angus Cottrell, 5. Sam Wykes, 4. Adam Coleman, 3. Kieran Longbottom, 2. Nathan Charles, 1. Pek Cowan
Substitutes: 16. Heath Tessmann, 17. Tetera Faulkner, 18. Oli Hoskins, 19. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Justin Turner, 22. Zack Holmes, 23. Chris Tuatara-Morrison
