Pumas hunting a semifinal spot
Pumas had a very good first half against Western Province in Round Eight of the Currie Cup, and Mentz wants his team to repeat that performance, but this time over the full 80 minutes.
"We have to remain positive and focus on the positive things we did last week [against Province]," said Mentz.
"We made a massive amount of unforced errors, so this week [against the Cheetahs] we want to rectify that.
"This match is very important to us, and to them.
"We face the Cheetahs here in Nelspruit, and that is going to be a very heated match.
Both teams will be trying to get a semifinal spot and the coaches understand the importance of this game.
"It's a knock-out game because the team that wins will stand a good chance of reaching the semifinal," added Mentz.
Mentz should have a relatively full-strength team to choose from for Saturday's match against the Cheetahs.
Francois du Klerk will miss Monday's training with a bicept injury.
He will go for a sonar on Monday.
Jason-Colin Fraser will also miss training on Monday with some bruising on his knee.
Mentz will be happy to have captain Stefan Watermeyer back as he has been cleared for selection.
De-Jay Terblanché and Rudi Mathee have both also been cleared for selection after pinched neck nerve and calf injury respectively.
Corné Fourie is still suffering from his shoulder injury and he will go for a final medical clearance later in the week.
John-Wessel Bell will commence training after he was rested last week with a hamstring injury, as will Lambert Groenewald after being cleared for training and selection after a hand injury.
Jacques Momberg will start with his rehabilitation program this week after breaking his thumb.
