Cheetahs ring the changes
Most of the changes made, five, were among the forwards.
There is an entirely new front row – Retshegofaditswe Nché replaces Charles Marais at loosehead prop, Elandré Huggett comes in for Torsten van Jaarsveld at hooker and Johan Coetzee starts at tighthead prop ahead of Tom Botha.
At lock, Armandt Koster starts in the place of Francois Uys.
Carl Wegner will be wearing the No.5 jersey, while Koster will be starting at No.4.
The final change in the pack sees Springbok Uzair Cassiem come in for Niell Jordaan on the flank.
Shaun Venter will start at scrumhalf ahead of Tian Meyer.
The final change to the starting XV sees Clinton Swart starting at inside centre, replacing William Small-Smith – who is struggling with an injury to both his acromioclavicular (shoulder) joints.
Ruan van Rensburg will be providing cover on the bench.
Smith confirmed that wing Raymond Rhule has overcome his concussion symptoms and will start in Wellington.
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Uzair Cassiem, 5 Carl Wegner, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Elandré Huggett, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nché.
Replacements: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Niell Jordaan, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Ruan van Rensburg.
Date: Saturday, May 20
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19.35 (09.35 SA time; 07.35 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Will Houston (Australia), Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
