Ruan Pienaar to lead star-studded Free State Cheetahs side

Ruan Pienaar will lead a Cheetah side that includes four Springboks and a Blitzbok star against the Toyota Invitational team in Bloemfontein.

Toyota Cheetahs head coach Hawies Fourie has included Springboks Frans Steyn (centre), Pienaar (scrumhalf) and Oupa Mohoje (loose forward) in a strong starting team, while Jacques Potgieter (loose forward) is set to make an impact off the bench.

Specmagic returns to Bloemfontein

Rosko Specman, who was a stalwart of the Blitzboks for many seasons, will also start in this match, which kicks off in the Toyota Stadium at 16h00 and will be broadcast live on the SuperSport Rugby channel.

The Toyota Invitational side will made up of players from the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Lions and Eastern Province.

The invitational team, under the guidance of Ricardo Loubscher and Daan Human, the current Springbok scrum coach, will be announced on Friday morning.

As a mark of honouring the work done by schools and school coaches in South Africa, the players from both teams will have the unique opportunity on Saturday to wear the socks of their school team that helped them create their respective rugby paths.

“With this gesture, we would like to thank all the schools and school coaches that work so tirelessly to produce top quality rugby players for the South African rugby landscape on an annual basis” said Harold Verster, Managing Director of the Free State Cheetahs (Pty) Ltd.

As per the current COVID-19 protocols, no spectators are allowed inside the stadium.

Jaco Peyper is the match referee and he will be assisted by Paul Mente and Mpho Matsaung, with Ben Crause managing the Television Match Official duties.

Cheetahs team

Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Craig Barry, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Rynier Bernardo, 4 Victor Sekekete, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Wilmar Arnoldi, 1 Cameron Dawson. Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Conraad van Vuuren, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Duncan Saal, 24 Chris Massyn, 25 Alulutho Tsakweni.

Invitational squad:

Forwards

Dan Jooste (Sharks), Jean Droste (Cheetahs), Jeandre Labuschagne (Sharks), Johan du Toit (WP), Khwezi Mona (Sharks), Kwenzo Bloze (WP), Marnus van der Merwe (Cheetahs), Michael Kumbirai (Sharks), Mihlali Mosi (NMU), Reinier Viljoen (Cheetahs U20), Roelof Smit (Lions), Ruhan Straeuli (Lions), Sazi Sandi (WP), WJ Steenkamp (Bulls), Jason Alexander (WP)

Backs

Cornel Smit (WP), Dillon Smit (Lions), Inny Radebe (EP), Jamba Ulengo (Lions), JP Duvenhage (Shimlas), Keegan Johannes (Bulls), Leolin Zas (WP), Richard Kriel (Bulls), Shane Bolton (Shimlas), Tristin Leyds (WP)

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