Strugglig Kings to take on Cheetahs

The Cheetahs will have their claws out for the Isuzu Southern Kings when the sides clash in the first SA derby of the Guinness PRO14 season at Madibaz Stadium on Friday.

After scoring a valuable 27-12 win on the road against Italian side Zebre in their last outing, the Cheetahs now have the struggling Kings in their sights.

Cheetahs coach Franco Smith said they were targeting 15 points from their double header against the Kings and the return game against Zebre in SA.

After Friday’s clash, the Cheetahs will host the Kings in Bloemfontein on February 2.

“We have an interesting three weeks ahead of us,” Smith said. “The Cheetahs are just going to claw our way back into finding our rhythm. We want to regain our form and get better at what we do. We want to roll out our best every week. These guys have made that commitment so that’s what we’ll be trying.”

In preparation, the Cheetahs had a contact session against the Shimlas Varsity Cup side.

The Kings, meanwhile, are sweating over the fitness of two key players.

Fullback Masixole Banda is receiving attention after getting a knock to his leg, and centre Tertius Kruger is scheduled to have an X-ray on an injured hand. Kings team doctor, Gershwin Kortje, said the team returned to SA with minimal injuries after being beaten 38-0 by Edinburgh

“We’re fortunate to have returned with no major injuries from the short tour to Scotland. There are a few knocks and bruises, as can be expected.

“We have Kruger going for Xrays on Tuesday. We will only then know the extent of the injury. Banda also got a knock to the leg.

“We will be assessing him this week to ascertain how serious it is.”

They will also be without prop Pieter Scholtz, banned for three weeks for eye-gouging.

The Cheetahs are going to claw our way back into finding our rhythm

The current injury list is: Martin Dreyer (knee, out for the season)

Bobby de Wee (shoulder, out for the season)

Henry “Bakkies” Brown (ankle) Xandre Vos (neck)

Oliver Zono (knee)

Sibusiso Sithole (knee) Rossouw de Klerk (chest)