The Cheetahs come into Round 3 of the European Challenge Cup at the top of Pool 1 and their next assignment comes at home to Section Paloise in Bloemfontein on Sunday
Cheetahs v Section Paloise, Sunday 14th January, Amsterdam, KO 15:00 (South African time)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Perriam (Sco) , Rob McDowell (Sco)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Sco)
Cheetahs:
The Cheetahs opening round clash away to Zebre in Parma saw them come out on top 33-15 but they were 1 try short of adding a bonus point. In Round 2 the Cheetahs hosted the Sharks in a local derby. They were quickly out of the blocks and led 15-7 at half time. The lead changed hands more than once in the second half but the Cheetahs scored their fourth try with 6 minutes remaining to clinch a 32-29 victory.
The Cheetahs finished Round 2 top of Pool 1 with 9 points, the Sharks have 7, the Dragons have 6, the Ospreys and Section Paloise both have 4 and Oyonnax just the 1.
After this game the Cheetahs final pool match is away to Oyonnax.
Section Paloise:
Section Paloise return to South African and their first round match on these shores was a one sided affair as they were thumped 45-5 by the Sharks in Durban. They repaired some of the damage with a 24-21 home win over the Dragons in Round 2 although they needed a last minute try to claim victory.
In the Top 14 Section Paloise have a record of 7 wins and 5 defeats and they are in sixth spot, 9 points behind log leaders Racing 92.
In this competition last season Section Paloise also came up against Cheetahs who beat them twice, 21-16 victory in Pau and 9-6 in a game staged in Parma.
After this Section Paloise are at home to Zebre Parma in the final round of pool matches.
Team News
Cheetahs: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 George Lourens, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (c), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Carl Wegner, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Sibabalo Qoma, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Ali Mgijima
Pau: 15 Jack Maddocks, 14 Thomas Carol, 13 Tumua Manu, 12 Nathan Decron, 11 Aminiasi Tuimaba, 10 Axel Desperes, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Reece Hewat, 7 Mehdi Tlili, 6 Martin Puech (c), 5 Fabrice Metz, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 3 Guram Papidze, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Remi Seneca, 18 Nicolas Corato, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Paulo Pelesasa, 21 Thomas Souverbie, 22 Thibault Debaes, 23 Samuel Ezeala
The Betting
Cheetahs -10.5
Section Paloise +10.5
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
I was caught off guard thinking this game was in Bloem but in fact it takes place in Amsterdam. The weather doesn't look great but the Cheetahs tend to score point and I am taking an interest in the overs which at 46.5 is low enough to tempt me.
Bet: 3 units over 46.5 points at 10/11 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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