The Toyota Cheetahs arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday for Round 3 of the EPCR Challenge Cup against Ulster Rugby.

This match will be the fourth encounter between the two teams as they met previously in PRO14 (CHE 19-42 ULS, 01/09/2017 in Belfast | CHE 39 – 39 ULS, 21/09/2018 in Bloemfontein | CHE 62 – 26 ULS, 05/10/2019 in Bloemfontein).

The action at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam, home ground of the Toyota Cheetahs in Europe, kicks off at 16:15 (17:15 SA time). The game will be live on SuperSport and on EPCR TV outside South Africa.  

One of the EPCR's conditions for the Toyota Cheetahs' participation in the EPCR Challenge Cup is that the team is based in Europe and will therefore play the Round 2 and 3 home games at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam. Free State Rugby is grateful to Rugby Nederland for sharing their home ground with another team in orange.

Coach Frans Steyn: "Ulster's pressure game is excellent. They are playing brilliant rugby at the moment."  

"We have a massive opportunity to show what we can do and do better than on the first tour. All the teams in this pool are great. Exter is third in the Prem, Stade Francais is third in the Top 14, and Ulster is third in the URC log. In the previous two games, I felt we had great moments, but ended up getting ourselves into trouble with our mistakes. If we can sort that out, we can do well. We have good players and a great squad. We can't wait for things to happen; we have to make it happen ourselves."

"We have to have an 80-minute performance. Opposition capitalised on moments where we lapsed or lost focus, and it makes it difficult when you don't play 80 minutes," said Captain Louis (Chucky) van der Westhuizen.

Coach Frans Steyn announced his team with a couple of changes from Round 2: Dux Manyama will start, with Cameron Dawson providing cover on the bench. Sisonke Vumazonke replace the injured Pierre Uys (face fracture), and Jaco van der Walt returns as flyhalf after a hamstring injury. The centres are Zander du Plessis and De-an Ackermann. Munier Hartzenberg will be wearing the number 14 jersey with James Verity-Amm on fullback.

TOYOTA CHEETAHS

1. Dux Manyama
2. Louis van der Westhuizen (c)
3. Aranos Coetzee
4. Carl Wegner
5. Curtley Thomas
6. Daniel Maartens
7. Sisonke Vumazonke
8. Gideon van der Merwe
9. Marco Jansen van Vuren
10. Jaco van der Walt
11. Prince Nkabinde
12. Zander du Plessis
13. De-an Ackermann
14. Munier Hartzenberg
15. James Verity-Amm

1. Marko Janse van Rensburg
2. Cameron Dawson
3. Frankie Dos Reis
4. Pieter Jansen van Vuren
5. Arno van der Merwe
6. Neels Volschenk
7. Rewan Kruger
8. Michael Annies  

The referee for the match is Kevin Bralley. He will be assisted by Vincent Blasco Baque and Flavien Hourquet. The TMO is Julien Castaignede.  

NEXT MATCH: The Toyota Cheetahs' next match is against Racing 92 on Sunday, 18 January at Paris La Défencse Arena in Paris.

INJURIES: Players from Round 1 and 2 not availible due to injury are Victor Sekekete and Pierre Uys (facial fractures) and Juan Venter (shoulder).

Fans are already eyeing the EPCR Finals Weekend in Bilbao, on 22 and 23 May 2026 - the biggest weekend in international club rugby.

Demand has been extraordinary, with over 50% of tickets sold for both the EPCR Challenge Cup and the Investec Challenge Cup before the new season even kicks off.

Bilbao is the ideal backdrop for an EPCR Finals Weekend, and supporters are encouraged to act quickly to avoid missing out.