Cheetahs face stiff task to reach Challenge Cup knockouts

The Cheetahs face a stiff task of reaching the Challenge Cup knockouts, when they take on French club Lyon in their final pool match of the competition in France on Saturday night (kick-off 7:30pm).

They are currently fifth in pool one on six points, with the top four going through to the last 16, so need a positive result to stay in the running.

French side Perpignan sit a place above them on the same points, but separated by points difference, while Cardiff are third on seven points and Lyon second on nine, while the only qualified team so far is Connacht on 15 points.

Even if the Cheetahs manage to pull off an upset win over their tough French opposition, they could still be pipped at the post by other teams if results don’t go their way, but coach Izak van der Westhuizen admits that they are only focused on themselves

“I think there are a lot permutations and a lot of things that can happen over the weekend. At the end of the day we can’t worry about that. All that we are focusing on is our own game coming up,” explained Van Der Westhuizen.

“It has been a tough ground for South African sides (to play at). They played in the Champions Cup last year. So it is a very good side that we are going to face.”

Cheetahs hooker Louis van der Westhuizen also said the focus for the players in the build up was on improving their own game and cutting out the errors that had cost them in previous games in the competition.

Stick to plan

“It is difficult to say what part of their game we have to focus on. I think if we stick to our game plan and execute what we can do, we will definitely be in the mix,” said Louis.

“You don’t always know what the game plan they will bring. So we want to up our physicality, keep them out and put them under pressure, which will be very important.

“Most of the time these teams get points off your mistakes. If we limit our mistakes we have seen it in the past games it puts them under pressure as they can’t feed off the scraps.”

Winning the big moments will also be key in the match, while the Cheetahs are well aware of how strong the squad will be that they are coming up against and they will have to handle that pressure.

“Big moments can win or lose you games. But you might get two or three of them, so if you convert one of them you will still be in the mix. The other teams also feed off big moments. So it sometimes comes down to who takes those the best,” said Louis.

“If you take a squad like Lyon, whichever team they play it is going to be a good team. It’s always nice to test yourself against stronger players to see where you are and what level you can perform at.

“Being a must win it is a bit of a pressure match, but if you enjoy it then the end result will look after itself.”