Toyota Cheetahs face Kings in first South African derby

Coach Rory Duncan has announced his team to take on the Kings in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 13 January 2018.  The match will be broadcasted live on SuperSport 1.  It is the first time the two local teams meet in Guinness PRO14.  The last time the two teams faced each other was in July when they made their final Vodacom SuperRugby appearances.  The Toyota Cheetahs have won all four previous fixtures between the two. 

“Dealing with pressure, we’ve been taking this season week by week and not looking ahead, but this is the week we’ve been waiting for - the first South African derby.  It is going to be real tough and physical game.  We expect the Kings to come out guns blazing, but so will we,” said Torsten van Jaarsveld who will be leading the team on the field. 

Changes to the team from last week:  

• Clayton Blommetjies is back on fullback with Craig Barry starting on right wing. 
• Nico Lee will be wearing the number 13 jersey, replacing injured captain, Francois Venter.  Venter sustained a neck injury in the match against Benneton Rugby last week. 
• Niel Marais will be starting on number 12.
• Props Ox Nche and Tom Botha are included in the starting line-up. Charles Marais and Johan Coetzee who will be providing cover on the bench. 
• Justin Basson will be replacing Carl Wegner as no. 4 lock. 
• Henco Venter is back on the bench after a long time on the side line due to a concussion he sustained in Round 6 against Glasgow. 

Flyhalf, Fred Zeilinga will be playing in his 50^th match for the Toyota Cheetahs and

Makazole Mapimpi is with 9 tires currently the top Guinness PRO14 try scorer in the championship

The following players are not eligible for team selection due to injury:

Francois Venter (neck), William Small-Smith (knee), Niel Jordaan (ankle), Tian Meyer (groin), Elandré Huggett (knee), Ruan van Rensburg (knee), Dennis Visser (knee), Tertius Kruger (lower leg), Lloyd Greeff (shoulder), Luther Obi (forearm), Malcolm Jaer (ankle).

                                    GUINNESS PRO14

                            Kings vs Toyota Cheetahs

             20 January 2018.  Kick-off:  17:00 (SA Time)

          Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

The referee for the match is Stuart Berry.  He will be assisted by Cwengile Jadezweni and AJ Jacobs.  The TMO is Shaun Veldsman.