Bok discard to lead Cheetahs
Venter, who was replaced by Dillyn Leyds in the Bok team for the Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship, will take over the captaincy from Neill Jordaan – who stood in during last week's opening round loss to Ulster.
He will be starting in his usual position on outside centre.
William Small-Smith moves to inside centre and Ali Mgijima will be providing cover on the bench.
Rosco Specman did not pass a fitness test and was ruled out due to injury.
Sergeal Petersen will be moving from fullback to right wing.
Clayton Blommetjies moves to the fullback position, with Robbie Petzer coming in at No.10.
Rynier Bernardo will be replacing Justin Basson on lock, with Armandt Koster providing cover on the bench.
"The guys have had a good training week," coach Rory Duncan said.
"We've spent a fair amount of time preparing ourselves especially in defence and breakdown.
"With the anticipation of relatively wet conditions, one or two areas of the game have been adapted to suit the weather circumstances."
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Robbie Petzer, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Charles Marais.
Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Retshegofaditswe Nche, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Armandt Koster, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Ali Mgijima, 23 Ryno Benjamin.
Date: Saturday, September 9
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 17.15 (18.15 SA time; 16.15 GMT)
Referee: Ben Whitehouse
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies and Mark Patton
TMO: Jon Mason
