The Cheetahs have confirmed that Ruan Pienaar will miss the Currie Cup clash against the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday due to a family bereavement.
Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie named a matchday-23 that did not include Pienaar for the match against the Vodacom Bulls, which will serve as Morne Steyn’s farewell to Loftus Versfeld.
The veteran scrumhalf, who has filled in at flyhalf, will stay in Bloemfontein and Siya Masuku has been recalled to the No 10 jersey.
“I have sympathy with Ruan and his family, and we support him,” said Fourie. “For the Cheetahs, it is important to us to put the family first.”
Masuku’s recall is the only change to the starting lineup. New father Louis van der Westhuizen is back on the bench, while Zinedine Booysen has been called up to provide cover at scrumhalf.
Cheetahs – 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 David Brits, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Friedle Olivier, 7 Siba Qoma, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (c), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Subs: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Jeandre Rudolph, 20 George Cronje, 21 Daniel Maartens, 22 Zinedine Booysen, 23 Robert Ebersohn.
Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images