Hawies forced to cast his net wider

Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie has spread his net wide to find a suitable replacement for his departed flyhalf star Tian Schoeman.

Schoeman, who previously played for the Bulls and spent the last few years with the Cheetahs, has decided to join Bath in England.

Fourie, however, has potentially pulled off a masterstroke by including the former Junior Springbok flyhalf Brandon Thomson in his training group.

The 25-year-old Thomson was a very promising young talent at the Stormers but after slipping through the system, played his rugby for the Glasgow Warriors in Scotland over the last few years.

The Cheetahs still have the talented Reinhardt Fortuin, who showed great promise during the last few rounds of the Currie Cup, on their books, while veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar is also still very capable in the No 10 jersey.

Other new players included in the Cheetahs training group include prop Alulutho Tshakweni, lock Jean Droste, prop Schalk Ferreira and lock Rynier Bernardo.

Droste previously turned out for the Sharks, Ferreira is a former Kings captain, while Bernardo is also a former Kings player but also played for the Cheetahs in the past.

The 34-year-old former Bok and Bulls flank Jacques Potgieter, who hasn’t played rugby for two years, is currently on a twomonth trial and pending medical and fitness tests could be offered a short-term contract.

Three players who will leave in the next few months to take up overseas contracts, including lock Carl Wegner, scrumhalf Ruben de Haas and fullback Rhyno Smith.

Meanwhile, former Sharks and Pumas scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer and ex Lions flank Pikkie de Villiers have joined Griquas.