RECAP: Cheetahs v Pumas
READERS’ FORUM: Welcome to our coverage of the Super Rugby Unlocked Round One encounter between the Cheetahs and Pumas in Bloemfontein.
The Cheetahs have opened only one of their last 10 Super Rugby campaigns with a win (2015 v Sharks), despite not trailing at half-time in any of their last four season openers.
The Cheetahs will be looking to snare back-to-back wins against fellow South African opponents in Super Rugby for the first time since 2013, after picking up a 21-20 win over the Kings in their last national derby in the competition in 2017.
The Pumas are set to become the eighth South African team to contest a Super Rugby fixture; each of the last two South African teams to enter the competition have won their maiden games (Cats, Kings).
* To read our pre-match predictions, CLICK HERE!
* Our live blog will appear below, it might take a little while to load, please be patient. We apologise for the inconvenience!
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Teams
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Charles Marais.
Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Chris Massyn, 21 Aidon Davis, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 William Small-Smith.
Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 12 Ryan Nell (captain), 11 Neil Maritz, 10 Eddie Fouche, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Kwanda Dimaza, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Ruan Kramer, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Morgan Naude.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Liam Hendricks, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Darrien Landsburg, 20 Jeandre Rudolph, 21 Dian Badenhorst, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Ruwellyn Isbell.
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby and Ben Crouse
TMO: Stuart Berry
