Kings and Cheetahs ‘to turn up the heat in PRO14’

SAREL Pretorius says his former side Toyota Cheetahs will be ready to give their opposition a warm reception in the first season of the newly expanded PRO14.

Dragons scrum-half Pretorius, below, had two spells at the Bloemfonteinbased outfit between 2008 and 2011 and 2013 and 2015 prior to heading to Rodney Parade.

The Cheetahs and Southern Kings have joined what was the PRO 12 last term, and Pretorius believes the two South African outfits will provide a stiff challenge.

“The Cheetahs and Kings will bring a breath of fresh air to the Northern Hemisphere competition,” Pretorius told TRP. “It’s good for South African rugby and I think they will provide the teams here with a very different challenge. The Cheetahs are still playing Currie Cup rugby. They won that competition last year and I think they’ll be a dangerous opposition.

“They like to throw the ball around and one thing the South African teams will have in their favour is the weather. Between December and March the temperature is about 35 degrees there. It’s sweltering.

“The Northern Hemisphere sides are going to struggle with that, but it also means they are going to get a shock when they come to Wales, Ireland and Scotland. I guess it works both ways and wherever each team plays, they’ll have to adapt quickly.”

Pretorius hopes for better luck this season with the Dragons under new head coach Bernard Jackman.

He said: “It’s a really exciting time to be at the Dragons. The Champions Cup is one of our goals and there’s a new energy to the squad this year. There’s a buzz around the place and everyone is enjoying coming to work.”