Fresh from their victory over the Vodacom Bulls, Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has named an unchanged starting line-up for his team’s first Vodacom Super Rugby tour match against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday.
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Drotske chose to keep the faith in the team that recorded their first victory as a franchise against their South African rivals, and arrived in Melbourne full of confidence ahead of a tough four week schedule away from home.
But while Drotske was happy that there were no injuries and he could repay the confidence shown in the team for their tactical performance in driving rain against the Bulls, he did bring back one stalwart onto the bench after a long injury layoff.
Fullback Hennie Daniller will move onto the bench in the place of Rayno Benjamin, thereby giving the team more options with their tactical kicking.
The Cheetahs will be full of confidence having never lost against the Rebels in Super Rugby, and also buoyed by the fact that they have two games under their belt, while the Australian team will be playing their first game of the tournament this season.
And it is a very different Rebels team that the Cheetahs will face this weekend, having lost the likes of James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale, Cooper Vuna and Gareth Delve since last season.
But the Rebels have also acquired for Chiefs star Toby Smith, who should make an impact this weekend.
Drotske said before departure that if you “execute well against the Rebels, you will get the reward” and is confident that despite not seeing the team play yet this year, not having any knowledge of any changes they have, that the Cheetahs will be backing their own game plan to get them the results.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johan Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Phillip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Boom Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (Ccaptain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Max van Dyk, 19 Ligtoring Landman, 20 Jean Cook, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Hennie Daniller.