Cheetahs gear up for Challenge Cup showdown in Amersterdam

By SABC Sport
12th January 2024

The Cheetahs arrived in Amsterdam on Tuesday and they look forward to a historic game as this will mark the first time for the Toyota Cheetahs to play in the Netherlands.

The match at the sold-out NRCA Stadium kicks off at 15:00 (SA time) on Sunday.

The Bloemfontein side was successful in the first two rounds when they beat Zebre 33-15 in Parma and the Sharks 32-29 in Bloemfontein. The Cheetahs will host Section Paloise at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam on Sunday, 14 January, and play against Oyonnax to round off their pool stage fixtures on 20 January 2024 in Oyonnax, France.

One of the EPCR's conditions for the Cheetahs' participation as an invitee in the 2023/24 EPCR Challenge Cup was for the team to be based in Europe.

"The Cheetahs express heartfelt gratitude to Rugby Netherlands for their invaluable support in organizing the EPCR Challenge Cup match at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam, and for providing a welcoming home in Europe. We sincerely appreciate their assistance," said Ross van Reenen, CEO of the Toyota Cheetahs.

"We are going to continue where we left off last year, I want to focus on our processes which is going to lead us," said Victor Sekekete, Captain of the Cheetahs.

Coach Hawies Fourie said: "It will be a new start for us but I feel that we know what we want to do. We know how we want to play, and the team is well-prepared. We've come through a tough Currie Cup since then and I think the team work well together."

"We don't want to be complacent, so I've been tough on the team and players during sessions because if you get complacent then you are going into your comfort zone, and you end up losing games you should have won."

Cheetahs - 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 George Lourens, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (c), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements - 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Ali Mgijima.