All You Need To Know | Cheetahs v Munster

1st November 2018 By The Editor

Sammy Arnold calls a mark against the Cheetahs in last season's clash.

Having travelled to South Africa on Monday, the Munster squad are preparing for Sunday’s Guinness PRO14 clash against Cheetahs at altitude in Bloemfontein (2.45pm Irish time, 4.45pm local time – live on eir Sport).

See the Munster squad that have travelled to South Africa here.

It is a meeting of two of last year’s Final Series sides. Last year saw Munster edge a tight game in South Africa but they face a Cheetahs team who broke their duck last week with a comfortable win over Cardiff Blues.

Cheetahs have lost only two of their last nine encounters played in Bloemfontein with the the South African side losing just once to an Irish province at Toyota Stadium, against Munster in April.

Johann van Graan’s men are now third in the Conference A standings and can consolidate their position with a winning performance against the Cheetahs. The two teams have already met once this season, with Munster victors at Thomond Park.

Team Line-Ups

Munster: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Sammy Arnold, Tyler Bleyendaal (C), Alex Wootton; Bill Johnston, Alby Mathewson; James Cronin, Kevin O’Byrne, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Darren O’Shea; Fineen Wycherley, Chris Cloete, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Mike Sherry, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Sean O’Connor, Gavin Coombes, Duncan Williams, Ian Keatley, Rory Scannell.

Cheetahs: Rhyno Smith; William Small-Smith, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Nico Lee, Rabz Maxwane; Tian Schoeman, Shaun Venter (C); Ox Nche, Joseph Dweba, Aranos Coetzee; Walt Steenkamp, JP du Preez; Gerhard Olivier, Junior Pokamela, Aidon Davis.

Replacements: Reinach Venter, Charles Marais, Erich de Jager, Sinthu Manjezi/Justin Basson, Daniel Maartens, Abongile Nonkontwana, Tian Meyer, Louis Fouche.

A Word From The Head Coach

Ahead of the game, Johann van Graan said: “It’s very exciting for us to come to South Africa with a very young squad. The Cheetahs have been playing very well over the last few weeks and we are looking to use our squad, you need depth.

“I think it was really tough for the Cheetahs in the opening weeks of the season as they had to play in two competitions. But they are back to one group now. They don’t really lose in Bloemfontein. Playing there on Sunday afternoon at altitude, it will be a really tough challenge for us.

“They play very well off their maul. They put you under pressure to put in numbers and they take it out wide and they have some real speed out wide, possibly some of the quickest guys in the competition. We’ll have to stop their maul at source and get numbers out to defend them.”