Cheetahs blood 'new' prop
The Cheetahs will blood another 'new' prop when they face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Young Marcel van der Merwe will make his long-awaited Super Rugby debut, as the competition resumes after a three-week break for the June Tests.
Van der Merwe – a product of Paarl Boys High, who played Craven Week for Western Province before moving to Bloemfontein – is capable of playing on both sides of the front row, although he started mostly at loosehead in the Currie Cup last year.
Now, in making the step up to Super Rugby, he will return to the position (No.3) in which he featured most often at school and age-group level.
He comes in at tighthead, with Edinburgh-bound WP Nel on the bench.
Another young prop, Trevor Nyakane, will start at loosehead in the place of the injured Coenie Oosthuizen, who will not feature again for the Cheetahs this season after aggravating a neck injury on his Springbok Test debut against England in Durban. It is the same neck injury that ruled Oosthuizen out for a lengthy period during last year's Currie Cup season.
Weighing in at 120 kilograms, Van der Merwe is expected to be the rock of the Cheetahs scrum against the Springbok-laden Bulls.
Another 2011 Currie Cup sensation, and former Varsity Cup star, flanker Lappies Labuschagné, will be making his eagerly awaited Super Rugby debut against the Bulls as well. The former Grey College loose forward has become a household name in the Free State with his try-scoring abilities.
In a final change to the Cheetahs side, Willie le Roux moves to fullback in the place of Hennie Daniller, who fractured his thumb in the Cheetahs final match before the Test Match break.
Cheetahs: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Philip Snyman, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Riaan Smit, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 WP Nel, 18 George Earle, 19 Justin Downey, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Nico Scheepers.
Date: Saturday, June 30
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Sindile Mayende (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
