Steyn’s Cheetahs are in ‘must-win’ mode

Coach Frans Steyn says the Cheetahs cannot afford any more setbacks as they prepare for a brutal SA Cup clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday night.

The Cheetahs bounced back from an opening-round 45-29 shock loss to Boland in Wellington with an 11-try, 69-0 victory against the Leopards. In round three, Steyn’s team travels to Nelspruit to face the unbeaten Pumas.

SA Cup: Three-way split at the summit

“We slipped up against Boland and now we can’t afford to make any more mistakes,” Steyn told reporters on Tuesday. “If we do that, we are out of the Currie Cup and then we are going backwards as a union.

“On Friday we need to pitch up, bring that physicality and do our jobs,” he said. “The SA Cup is very important to us, we still need to qualify for the Currie Cup.”

The Cheetahs are currently placed fifth, outside the top four spots required to qualify for the Currie Cup premier division, and the nine-match SA Cup schedule doesn’t leave much room to recover from a slow start.

“On the weekend I tried to watch the SA Cup on TV, but the matches weren’t there. I don’t know how important it is for other people, but for us this competition is massive. If we don’t do well, we stand to lose a lot. We probably have the most to lose out of all the unions in the tournament.”

The last time the Cheetahs met the Pumas in Nelspruit was in the 2024 Currie Cup season where they cruised to a 41-14 victory. Captain and hooker Louis van der Westhuizen scored a brace of tries against the Leopards, his former side, though he’s expecting a bigger challenge from the second-placed Pumas on Saturday.

“You can’t look back at last year’s result,” said Van der Westhuizen. “There is a new team, with new coaches and a new system. We have momentum now and we will try to continue building on that.

“It’s always a cat fight between the Pumas and the Cheetahs. They will want to go higher up the table. We know they are going to come out guns blazing. We are expecting a high-speed game. They have great kickers across their backline and I believe they’ll bring a dangerous kicking game.

“It’s going to be physical. We know the Pumas are hungry to beat us. And discipline across the field has to be perfect because they have players who are great at kicking for poles. We can’t just worry about conceding penalties in those areas. We have to be good everywhere.”

Steyn made a couple of changes to the team that blanked the Leopards, recalling lock Victor Sekekete and No 8 Jeandre Rudolph up front, while Litha Nkula and Michael Annies return on the wings and Ali Mgijima lines up at inside centre, backed up by a 6-2 bench.

CHEETAHS — 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Michael Annies, 13 Raegan Oranje, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Litha Nkula, 10 George Lourens, 9 Jandre Nel, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Pierre Uys, 6 Neels Volschenk, 5 Victor Sekekete (c), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Hencus van Wyk
Bench: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Matome Manyama, 18 Frankie dos Reis, 19 Pieter Janse van Vuren, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sesonke Vumazonke, 22 Rewan Kruger 23 Jooste Nel

Photo: Romain Biard/Icon Sport via Getty Images