Toyota Cheetahs’ Daniel Kasende scores a try. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)
- If the Cheetahs advance to the Challenge Cup playoffs on Sunday, it would represent the most underdog act in three painful years for the franchise.
- Despite the honor of playing in the tournament, the financial and logistical impact has been severe, and the team must play its home games in Italy.
- But despite all the odds stacked against them, the cheetahs strive to prove their resilience once again.
If the Cheetahs pull off a “/sport/home” win over Pau in Parma on Sunday night to clinch their European Challenge Cup playoff berth, it would arguably represent the biggest underdog act ever accomplished by the core franchise. in what has been three years on the brink of rugby hell.
Since losing their place in the PRO14 in 2020 to make way for the entry of Super Rugby franchises into the URC, the Free Staters have faced many obstacles, ranging from an exodus of players to a significant decline in revenue streams. due to his absence of an international. competence.
It’s no wonder this weekend’s life-or-death clash feels like a proverbial date with fate.
The Cheetahs surprised everyone with a terrific opening 21-16 victory against their French opponents in December and produced an effort of unusual grit and determination, minus veteran stars Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar, to fall painfully short in the 17th. -20 from last week. defeat to the Scarlets.
“We would all treasure a win. It would be huge,” head coach Hawies Fourie said.
“Our goal from the beginning was to get to the playoff stages, even though we knew it was going to be tough. We want to get to the top 16 because we want to help our union and franchise make tangible progress again.”
“We have been in a difficult position for the last three years and this is an opportunity to show that we can and want to play international rugby. We are good enough to play at this level. We want to show that we belong.”
Last year’s announcement that the Cheetahs would be included in the continental tournament was met with loud applause from the dedicated staff at the Free State Stadium, but it soon came to fruition.
Due to receiving an invite to the tournament from the European Professional Club Rugby, the governing body of the Champions League and Challenge Cups, the Cheetahs had to give up home field advantage to play all of their fixtures in Italy.
Firstly, spending four weeks abroad (two away games, two “/sport/home”) has had a significant budget impact.
Ross van Reenen, the Cheetahs’ chief executive, told Rapport that the venture, if you can call it that, has cost the franchise R2.9 million, which includes visa fees, facility rental from the Italian side of URC Zebre, meals and laundry.
As for rugby, there have also been challenges.
“We play our home games in Parma, nothing in Bloemfontein. Meanwhile, the other SA teams have home games in South Africa, just like the other participants. It makes a big difference,” Fourie said.
“A lot has been written about the difficult travel schedule of home teams, flight durations and we’ve been in the same boat. It’s not easy. We had the added challenge of not having a period in December to keep the momentum going while the rest of the URC teams were still playing, that’s a great advantage.
“That actually made the performance against the Scarlets all the more commendable because we hadn’t played for weeks.”
Teams:
cheehahs
15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Dan Kasense, 13 David Brits, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Munier Hartzenberg, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo , 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Substitutes: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Branden de Kock, 22 Evardi Boshoff, 23 Andell Loubser
pau
15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Clement Laporte, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Nathan Decron, 11 Daniel Ikpefan, 10 Thibault Debaes, 9 Clovis Lebail, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Martin Puech, 6 Saca Zegueur, 5 Mickael Capelli, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Ignacio Calles
Substitutes: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Remi Seneca, 18 Guram Papidze, 19 Lekima Tagitagivula, 20 Thibaut Hamonou, 21 Reece Hewat, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Tumuna Manu
Fourie noted that his troops had tried to establish a connection to his adopted city, but several factors rendered such efforts futile.
“It’s a very contrived situation. The language barrier is significant and we don’t have anyone on our team who is fluent in Italian, so we can’t really relate to the locals,” he said.
“We’re also here at a time of year when there’s not much going on around us. It’s very cold and it rains regularly so you have to stay inside most of the time anyway. Our playing surface has been covered this week, so he didn’t get a chance to even have a captain’s run.
“You definitely feel a bit like an imposter, but we are making the best of a difficult situation. We have a decent training camp and we’ve had a good period of preparation. But it’s disappointing that we can’t engage with the Italian people.
“It’s definitely not our home, but we’re really trying to stay positive.”
Given the resistance they have shown in the past, one can believe their sentiment.
The start is at 17:15.
