Goosen, Oosthuizen start for Cheetahs

The Cheetahs have made three changes to their starting XV for their match against the Force in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Having been involved from the bench last weekend, Springboks Johan Goosen and Coenie Oosthuizen will start as the Cheetahs look to claw themselves off the foot of the table.

'It is good to have both Johan and Coenie back. They are two quality players who are very influential in the way we want to play,' coach Naka Drotské explained.

Goosen has recovered from a concussion to take the place of Elgar Watts at flyhalf, while Oosthuizen takes over from Maks van Dyk at tighthead prop. Watts and Van Dyk will drop to the bench.

In the only other change, Teboho Mohoje will get his first start on the blindside flank, with Jean Cook missing out after a shoulder injury sustained in the loss to the Bulls.

Raymond Rhule has been provisionally included despite suffering from an ankle knock. Should the flying winger be unable to prove his fitness, Springbok Sevens player Cornal Hendricks will take his place on the right wing.

Meanwhile, the Force have named an unchanged team.

Cheetahs – 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Raymond Rhule/Cornal Hendricks, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Sarel Pretorius 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Teboho Mohoje, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Subs: 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Maks van Dyk, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Waltie Vermeulen, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Elgar Watts, 23 Cornal Hendricks/Howard Mnisi.

Force – 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (c), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Adam Coleman, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Subs: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Tetera Faulkner, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Justin Turner, 22 Zack Holmes, 23 Chris Tuatara-Morrison.

Photo: Charle Lombard/Getty Images