Springboks Willie le Roux, Johan Goosen, and Adriaan Strauss will all start for the Cheetahs against the Lions on Saturday for their Super Rugby opener.
The Bloemfontein clash will see Le Roux return to the playing field following some time on the sidelines after being rested for the warm-up games against NMMU and the EP Kings.
Springbok Sevens star Cornal Hendricks will make his Super Rugby debut on the right wing, while Sarel Pretorius takes a place on the bench to make space for Shaun Venter at scrumhalf.
Cheetahs – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Subs: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Rynhardt Landman, 20 Jean Cook, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Ryno Benjamin.
Photo: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix
