Bloemfontein – Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has included two Springboks on his replacement bench in an otherwise unchanged line up for his side’s Super Rugby encounter against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
Springbok flyhalf Johan Goosen and Bok prop Coenie Oosthuizen have both been cleared to play after recovering from injuries. Goosen was sidelined for a couple of weeks with concussion, while Oosthuizen has finally recovered from a lengthy neck injury he sustained during the Cheetahs’ overseas tour to Australasia.
“It has been a while since Coenie has played and we are excited to have him back in the squad,” Drotské said.
“He will definitely feature in the second half against the Bulls and can make a huge difference at scrum time and on the attack.
“Johan Goosen has also been cleared and will get some game time as well.”
With Trevor Nyakane also on the bench and captain and hooker Adriaan Strauss starting, Drotské would have the luxury of an all-Springbok front row at his disposal for the second half at Loftus.
The only other change is the return of Ligtoring Landman to the bench after recovering from a groin injury.
The Cheetahs have regained some much-needed confidence after beating the Stormers comprehensively in Bloemfontein last weekend and as a result, Drotske decided not to tamper with his run-on side.
“We felt that the team as a whole fared really well against the Stormers and it is important to retain the momentum we got from that victory.
“There is still a lot of rugby left and we are confident we can still get a lot of positive results if we can continue playing like we did against the Stormers.”
The Cheetahs team: Hennie Daniller, Raymond Rhule, Johann Sadie, Rayno Benjamin, Willie le Roux, Elgar Watts, Sarel Pretorius, Boom Prinsloo, Jean Cook, Heinrich Brüssow, Francois Uys, Andries Ferreira, Maks van Dyk, Adriaan Strauss (captain), Caylib Oosthuizen. Replacements: Torsten van Jaarsveld, Trevor Nyakane, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ligtoring Landman, Teboho Mohoje, Shaun Venter, Johan Goosen, Cornal Hendricks. – Sapa