VIDEO: Cheetahs battle the ice as two players head home
SPOTLIGHT: The Cheetahs’ preparations for their final Challenge Cup pool match against Oyonnax in France suffered a bit of a setback this week.
The Bloemfontein side will head into Saturday’s match in eastern France needing a few log points to secure their place in the Round of 16.
However, since their 20-33 defeat to Pau in Amsterdam last Sunday, Hawies Fourie’s side could only resume training on Thursday.
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“We made it a bit more difficult for ourselves losing last week’s game. This week wasn’t easy as we couldn’t train up to today [Thursday],” said Fourie.
“The fields were frozen so we were not allowed to train on it.
“We had a session around midday today [Thursday] and it was raining for most of it and it was quite cold.
“It is difficult conditions but at least we could get a decent hour’s preparation in.”
Meanwhile, Fourie confirmed that two of his players headed back to Bloemfontein this week.
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They are Cohen Jasper (ankle) and Ali Mgijima (concussion).
“Ali didn’t make the protocols regarding head injuries, so he had to go back as well.
“Abner van Reenen and Andell Loubser are on their way. I think they will join us this [Thursday] afternoon.
“It is a big blow losing Ali. He played well in all the games when he came on as a sub, especially last weekend against Pau.
“He brought a lot of energy. He made linebreaks and good tackles, so he was close to being selected in the starting line-up.
“If he was ready, it would have been a tough selection for us.”
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