VIDEO: 'We proved our point'
The Cheetahs, by the nature of their invite to the European stage, has to constantly adjust to new environments.
Last season they were based in Parma for their ‘home’ games.
This season Amsterdam is their European base, even though they played their home game against the Sharks in Bloemfontein.
However, the biggest challenge is the stop-start nature of their European season – with no competition to keep them active when teams return to their ‘domestic leagues’.
The Cheetahs had an almost perfect start to the season, beating Zebre 33-15 in Parma and following that up with a bonus-point 32-29 win over the Sharks in Bloemfontein.
They are sitting pretty at the top of Pool One – two points ahead of the second-placed Sharks.
However, the challenge gets a bit tougher from here – heading to Amsterdam, their new European home, to face Section Paloise on Sunday, January 14, followed by an away match against Oyonnax at Stade Charles Mathon six days later.
Having become accustomed to going in new places and playing at new venues, the Cheetahs are looking forward to basing themselves in Amsterdam next month.
Forwards coach Izak van der Westhuizen said they are ‘more than happy’ with the position they find themselves in.
They have now shown the South African Rugby Union they are worthy of a more permanent place in an international competition and deserves respect.
“After the [win] in the Currie Cup [competition] there were suggestions that a lot of the [top] players were not playing,” Van der Westhuizen said.
“It [the win over the Springbok-laden Sharks] showed that we can play against them as well.”
(WATCH as Cheetahs forwards coach Izak van der Westhuizen talks about the stop-start nature of their European campaign….)
Captain Victor Sekekete echoed similar sentiments, saying they always believed but had to convince their detractors they belonged.
The Cheetahs are taking some time out to “refresh” with their families over the Christmas period, do some ‘home-based’ conditioning and regroup early in January to start preparations for the Pau encounter.
Van der Westhuizen said it will be a challenge not to have any games, while Pau continues to play in the Top 14 – against tough teams like Clermont, Oyonnax and La Rochelle – before the Challenge Cup resumes in mid-January.
“They get to build momentum, while we are on a high [after beating the Sharks] and have a dead stop,” he told @rugby365com.
“It is always difficult to start from scratch again, but we have a group of players that are buying into what we are doing and just want to play.”
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