The Toyota Cheetahs are in action again this week with the 2024 Toyota Challenge getting underway.

The tournament in Bloemfontein will kick-off on Wednesday afternoon when the Emerging Ireland side plays against the Pumas from Nelspruit.

The Cheetahs in turn will kick-off their campaign on Wednesday evening when they face the Australian Super Rugby franchise, the Western Force.

The Cheetahs do have a lot of their injured players back in training and this will just increase their depth heading into the EPCR Challenge Cup which kicks off in December.

The Cheetahs coach, Izak van der Westhuizen, told OFM Sport that while it was disappointing being knocked out of the Currie Cup in the semi-finals, there were positives, especially when it came to the new players stake their claims in the squad.

“There were a lot of positives from the Currie Cup campaign – there were players like Robert Hunt and Michael Annies and guys like that,” said Van der Westhuizen.

“They really put their hands up and slotted into the team very quickly. They added a lot of value and I think there will be more youngsters that will come through. That’s where these games will be important as well, so that we can bleed another one or two guys as we look towards the future.

Van der Westhuizen added that it’s also good to have injured players starting to make a return as Neel Volschenk and Banie Britz, although the latter is not quite ready to play yet.

“It’s always good to have guys coming back from injury, so guys like Neels Volschenk and Banie Britz are very exciting young players.”

Wednesday night’s match between the Cheetahs and the Force at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 19:00.

Morgan Piek