Meyer leads Cheetahs in Argentina

Cape Town - Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has named his team for Saturday’s Super Rugby encounter against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.

Smith made several changes to the team that beat the Sunwolves 38-31 in Bloemfontein last weekend.

Scrumhalf Tian Meyer has been named as captain, replacing Torsten van Jaarsveld, who captained the Cheetahs in their first three games of the season.

Regular captain Francois Venter is still sidelined with an ankle injury.

Up front, Elandre Huggett replaces Van Jaarsveld at hooker, joining props Danie Minnie and Tom Botha in a new front row. Charles Marais and Johan Coetzee subsequently move down to the bench.

Armand Koster also replaces Justin Basson at lock, while Henco Venter comes into the loose trio, replacing Paul Schoeman, who features on the bench.

In the backline, Niel Marais starts at flyhalf in place of Fred Zeilinga, while Ruan van Rensburg replaces the injured Raymond Rhule at left wing.

Michael van der Spuy starts in midfield, replacing Rayno Benjamin, who moves back to right wing in place of Zee Mkhabela.

Kick-off for Saturday’s clash is scheduled for 21:40 (SA time).

Teams:

Jaguares

15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Felipe Arregui, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Santiago García Botta

Substitutes: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Ignacio Larrague, 21 Javier Ortega Desio, 22 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Bautista Ezcurra

Cheetahs

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Michael van der Spuy, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ruan van Rensburg, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Henco Venter, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 Danie Mienie

16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Johan Coetzee, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Paul Schoeman, 21 William Small-Smith/Boom Prinsloo, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Fred Zeilinga