Cheetahs sharpen their claws for struggling Kings
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 the Madibaz Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
After scoring a valuable 27-12 win on the road against Zebre of Italy in their last outing, the Cheetahs now have the struggling Kings in their sights.
They are 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 in the PRO14,” Cheetahs coach Franco 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 performance every week.
“These guys have made that commitment.”
In preparation for Friday’s clash, the Cheetahs had a contact session against the Shimlas Varsity Cup side.
Meanwhile, Kings team doctor Gershwin Kortje delivered some good news on Mon- day as he passed fullback Masixole Banda and centre Tertius Kruger fit for selection.
The side returned from their trip to Scotland, where they faced Edinburgh in the first week of January, with the duo having sustained injuries.
Last week Banda (leg) and Kruger (hand) underwent scans to ascertain the extent of the injuries, and Kortje has had some positive feedback.
The Kings were given other injury scares when loose-forwards Martinus “Tienie” Burger (groin) and Ruaan Lerm (leg) sustained knocks in training.
“Ruaan Lerm has recovered and is available for selection.
“We are still keeping a close eye on Tienie Burger with his groin injury. We can expect to make a call on his availability later in the week.”
The team has been boosted by the return of utility back Sibusiso Sithole from a long-term knee injury
“Sibusiso Sithole has made a full recovery,” Kortje said.
“We also have Andisa Ntsila, Rossouw de Klerk and Oliver Zono, who have completed their rehab and are now busy with their conditioning work.”
The Kings injury list is: Martin Dreyer (knee, out for the season), Bobby de Wee (shoulder, out for the season), Henry “Bakkies” Brown (ankle) and Xandre Vos (neck).