Currie Cup: Cheetahs have point to prove against struggling Lions

The Cheetahs have a massive point to prove when they take on the Lions in a Currie Cup cat fight at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon (kickoff 5pm).

After being unceremoniously booted from the Pro 14 (now United Rugby Championship) the Cheetahs’ biggest challenge is the local Currie Cup competition and although it is still very competitive, it is not nearly on the level of an international pro union tournament.

As this year’s favourites with a powerful squad, the Cheetahs will want to make a big statement to SA Rugby, and will be targeting a massive result against the struggling Lions who are yet to pick up a win in any competition this year.

That includes five URC games and three Currie Cup matches, which sees the visitors head into the clash in very poor form.

‘Tough test’

However, Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie is not counting his chickens before they hatch and believes his team still have to step up to the challenge against a tricky opponent.

“I think the Lions are a quality side, they have gone through a difficult patch but we are expecting a strong team to come down to Bloemfontein. I think a lot of their URC guys will get an opportunity to get some game time,” said Fourie.

“I think they play a similar brand of rugby to us. It’s exciting, they like to keep the ball in hand, and they are difficult, especially off turnovers. So it will be a tough test for us but we have trained well over the last two weeks and we are ready for the 80 minutes on Saturday.”

This weekend’s match will only be the Cheetahs’ second against URC opposition after they comfortably beat the Bulls in Pretoria last month and they will be keen to claim a big win over the Lions to make it two from two.

They then host Western Province and travel to Durban to take on the Sharks later this month and a perfect sweep of four wins over the four URC franchises will go a long way in getting the Cheetahs’ point across.