Stronger Cheetahs primed to beat Pau again in Challenge Cup

A stronger Cheetahs team is primed and ready to pick up a third straight win over French side Section Paloise when the teams meet in their Challenge Cup clash in Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 3pm).

The sides played each other twice in last year’s Challenge Cup, with the Cheetahs triumphing 21-16 in France before they essentially played a knockout in the second game, edging them 9-6 in Parma, Italy to sneak through the pool stage and into the play-offs.

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In that second game the Cheetahs were without a number of their star players, but have them back this time around which coach Hawies Fourie believes makes them a more formidable team.

A bit stronger

“It is difficult to compare. In that game last year we had to play without guys like Oupa (Mohoje), Frans (Steyn) and Ruan (Pienaar). This game we have Ruan back and Oupa is in the touring squad so I think we are a bit stronger,” said Fourie.

“We went through a tough Currie Cup since then and the team has gelled together nicely. We don’t want to be complacent. I have been tough on the players during training sessions because if you are complacent you go into your comfort zone and lose games you should have won.

“So I feel we know what we want to do and we know how we want to play. The team is well prepared and I definitely think we can beat them again.”

Cheetahs captain Victor Sekekete admitted that the team will look to stick to their processes and play the way they know how, but also cautioned that they were in for a tough battle at the set pieces.

“We want to chase our own processes and do what we want to do. We are playing away again and we are going to take what we have learnt from all those away games and apply that to this game. So we are going to treat it as any other game that we’ve had,” said Sekekete.

“We know their (Pau) forwards will come for us, especially after what happened last season. We know their egos are bruised and it will be a tough game. Our kicking game and defence will be key.”