Cheetahs sign 'All-American' for two seasons
CONTRACT NEWS: The Free State Cheetahs (Pty) Ltd confirmed that six players extended their contracts, while an ‘All-American’ scrumhalf is also returning to Bloemfontein.
Evardi Boshoff, Gideon van der Merwe, Marnus van der Merwe, Rynier Bernardo, Louis van der Westhuizen and Jeandré Rudolph have all signed contract extensions.
Ruben de Haas will also return to the franchise later this year.
Ruben De Haas
De Haas joined the Cheetah Academy in 2017 and represented the Free State Cheetahs in the Under-19 competition. He played for CUT in the Varsity Cup earlier this year and for the Free State XV in the domestic Challenge Series, before being called up by the Eagles coach, Gary Gold, to a 31-man training squad for the June Test series.
He was born in George, South Africa, before he immigrated in 2009 with his parents to Arkansas, America.
His father, Pieter, played for the Free State in the late 80s and played 3 games with the Free State, and his grandfather Gerard played for the Free State in the early 1960s and played five games for the team.
De Haas first represented the United States as a member of the United States men’s national under-19 team (High School All-Americans) tour of Ontario, Canada. De Haas served as the captain of the High School All-Americans.
De Haas debuted with the (Junior All-Americans) in the United State’s men’s national under-20 team. De Haas first appeared for the Junior All-Americans as a 65th-minute substitute in a 46–44 loss to Namibia on 19 April. De Haas made his first start at scrum half for the Junior All-Americans in their 32–12 victory over Hong Kong on 23 April.
De Haas also made two appearances for the Junior All-Americans 2017 Rugby under-20 Trophy qualification matches. He scored one conversion in the Junior All-Americans’ 46–12 defeat to Canada on 13 June 2017. He also scored one conversion and one penalty goal in the Junior All-American’s 27–25 victory over Canada on 17 June 2017. De Haas served as the vice-captain of the Junior All-Americans.
He then signed a contract with the Cheetahs in 2018 and played nine games with the Cheetahs. He’s back and re-united with the team again for another two seasons.
Evardi Boshoff
Evardi Boshoff made his first-class debut on 24 August 2021 for the Leopards against the South Western Districts in George. He played in 26 matches for the Leopards during 2018-’19, scoring five tries.
He moved to the Free State and debuted his Cheetah on 26 June 2021 in a Currie Cup match against Griquas in Kimberley. Boshoff scored a hat-trick of tries against Diables Barcelona in Bloemfontein on 17 November 2021 in a Challenge. He has scored five tries in his nine Cheetah games so far.
The product of Lichtenburg High School missed out on playing in the Craven Week due to an injury in 2016. At North-West University, he made his name as a player while playing for the Eagles (then Pukke) in the Varsity Cup.
Boshoff is currently on 15 caps with the Cheetahs.
Gideon van der Merwe
Gideon van der Merwe joined the Cheetahs in 2021 and made his Cheetah debut on 13 November 2021 against Western Province in Bloemfontein. Currently, he’s on 18 caps with the Cheetahs.
Van der Merwe was born and matriculated at Potchefstroom Gymnasium and furthered his studies at North-West University. As a product of Potchefstroom Gym, Van der Merwe was called up to represent the Leopards at the youth level in 2013 at the Under-18 Craven Week in Polokwane.
In 2015 and 2016, he made his mark for Pukke’s Young Guns. In 2016 and 2017, Gideon played for the Leopards’ Under-21 team and Pukke’s Varsity Cup team, and he made his debut for the Leopards in the domestic Challenge series.
Gideon made his first-class debut on 25 August 2017 for the Leopards against South West Districts at Potchefstroom, scoring one of the Leopard’s five tries in a drawn match, 42-42. Gideon played in 21 games for the Leopards, scoring eight tries.
He made his Currie Cup debut for Griquas on 12 July 2019, starting their opening match of the 2019 season against the Sharks. He played 34 games for the Griquas scoring 12 tries.
Marnus van der Merwe
Marnus van der Merwe, has pledged for another two seasons with the Cheetahs.
Van der Merwe is a product of the Cheetah Academy. He made his Pro14 debut on 8 September in Swansea.
The Cheetahs are excited to extend his stay for another two seasons and extend his caps with the team since he’s on 50 caps.
Rynier Bernardo
The lock, Rynier Bernardo represented Eastern Cape Province at various youth tournaments. In 2007, he played at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and in 2008 at the Under-18 Academy Week, resulting in his inclusion in the SA Schools Academy team the same year. He also played at the 2009 Under-18 Craven Week tournaments.
Between 2010 and 2012, Bernardo represented the EP Under-19 and Under-21 sides. He made his first-class debut for Eastern Province in the 2012 domestic Cup competition against Border Bulldogs.
His Currie Cup debut came a few months later against the SWD Eagles in the 2012 Currie Cup First Division competition. He made six appearances in total in that competition. Also, He started both promotion/relegation games against the Free State Cheetahs.
Bernardo was named in the Southern Kings squad for the 2013 Super Rugby season. With the Kings not playing Super Rugby in 2014, Bernardo joined the Cheetahs for pre-season training before the 2014 Super Rugby season. However, he was not named in their final squad and returned to Port Elizabeth.
Bernardo joined the Welsh Pro12 side Ospreys from 2014 until 2017. In 2015-’16, he suffered a dislocated kneecap which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
In June 2016, Bernardo joined another Welsh Pro12 side, Scarlets. After the 2017–’18 European season, Bernardo returned to South Africa to join the Cheetahs for the 2017 Currie Cup Premier Division season.
Bernardo joined Canon Eagles for the 2018–’19 Top League season. After seven games, he re-joined the Cheetahs in 2021 and played in all four Preparation-Series matches.
A shoulder injury in a Currie Cup match on 15 January 2022 against Griquas in Bloemfontein put him on the sideline for most of the season. In a Currie Cup match against the Pumas in Bloemfontein on 3 June 2022, Bernardo was back at his post next to his regular lock partner Victor Sekekete.
Louis van der Westhuizen
Louis ‘Chucky’ Van der Westhuizen (hooker) is a Namibian playing his rugby for the Cheetahs. He represented Namibia in the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Van der Westhuizen was the leading try-scorer in 2022’s Currie Cup series. Chucky (short for Chuck Norris), known since his boarding days at the Pukke, scored 15 tries, the most in the 2022 Currie Cup season. He is currently busy with his Master’s degree in electrical engineering.
It is unusual for a forward to boast the most tries in a Cheetah team in which the wings usually score the five-pointers and show off the records.
Van der Westhuizen’s 15 Currie Cup tries in 2022 are surpassed only by Jan-Harm van Wyk’s (wing) Free State season record of 16 tries in 1997 in this competition. His 15 tries are remarkable because he is the only forward among the top six Free State try scorers in a single season.
As a student, he represented the NWU Pukke between 2016-18 in the annual Varsity Cup competition. He played in a Rugby World Cup before he played Varsity Cup. Van der Westhuizen made his first-class debut on 26 August 2016 for the Leopards against the Griffons at Potchefstroom in the Currie Cup First League. He represented the Leopards in 28 matches, while he played for the Welwitschias of Namibia in two games in the Rugby Challenge in 2019.
He made his Test debut on 11 October 2015 against Argentina at the World Cup in Leicester. He has 21 tests to his credit, scoring six tries. He has already played six WB Tests – four at the 2015 tournament in England and 2 in 2019 in Japan.
He came to continue his career in Bloemfontein. His first Cheetah match was on 10 October 2020 in a Unlocked clash against the Pumas in the Stadium Bloemfontein. He already has 17 Cheetah matches (16 tries) to his credit.
Van der Westhuizen and Aranos Coetzee were members of the Namibian team who participated in a qualifying series of matches for the 2023 World Cup tournament between 27 June and 12 July 2022 in France.
Louis Van der Westhuizen is standing on 57 caps with the Cheetahs.
Jeandre Rudolph
Star flank Jeandre Rudolph has committed again to the Cheetahs.
Rudolph is a product of Hoër Landbouskool Oakdale. Before heading to Potchefstroom to study, he played his junior rugby for SWD Eagles. He will forever be remembered as the North-West University (NWU Pukke) captain to host the Varsity Cup trophy.
Rudolph subsequently joined the Pumas (2018-20), which he also captained on occasion, and was on loan to the Bulls (2020) for the 2020 Super Rugby tournament, which came to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In November 2020, he signed with the Cheetahs and made the most of his chances in Bloemfontein. He was and is still excellent in the Currie Cup.
Rudolph got his big chance in November 2020 in the Super Rugby Unlocked competition. He played his first 26 games for the Cheetahs on 06 November 2020 against the Sharks and is currently on 36 caps with the Cheetahs.
In 2021, the professional players’ organization, MyPlayers, nominated Rudolph for their “Defender of the Year-” and “Forward of the Year-” awards. It is a testament to a man who made the most of his talents.
