Cheetahs (rugby union)

Not to be confused with Free State Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs (known for sponsorship reasons as the Toyota Cheetahs), is a South African professional rugby union team based at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. They have played Super Rugby between 2006 and 2017, then the Pro14 (now United Rugby Championship) from 2017 to 2020, and currently the EPCR Challenge Cup since 2022.

Cheetahs

Union	South African Rugby Union
Emblem(s)	Cheetah
Founded	1895 (Orange Free State Rugby Union) 2005 (Cheetahs franchise)
Location	Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Region	Free State Northern Cape
Ground(s)	Free State Stadium (Capacity: 46,000)
Coach(es)	Hawies Fourie
Captain(s)	Victor Sekekete
League(s)	European Rugby Challenge Cup
2022−2023	(Round of 16)
Team kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.fscheetahs.co.za

The franchise area encompasses the western half of the Free State province, the same as that of provincial Currie Cup side the Free State Cheetahs. Between 2006 and 2015, the Griffons from the eastern half of the Free State province and Griquas from the Northern Cape province were Cheetahs franchise partners, but this ended prior to the 2016 Super Rugby season.^[1]

The Cheetahs was one of the two new franchises that entered the expanded Super 14 competition in 2006, the other being Australia's Western Force. The Central Union was awarded the fifth South African franchise over the SEC franchise in April 2005. In its first season the Cheetahs did surprisingly well, finishing tenth in the final standings, out of 14 sides. Prior to being accepted into the 2006 Super 14 season, the Cheetahs were represented as a part of the Cats. In addition, before the South African Rugby Union entered regionalised franchises into the competition, the Free State Cheetahs side competed in the 1997 Super 12 season.^[2]

Strip

The primary strip for the Toyota Cheetahs is an orange jersey with a white collar and white trim. Black shorts with orange socks and white trim. The colours are representative of the Free State Currie Cup side; orange and white (Free State Cheetahs). The alternative jersey is the same design, though it is a white jersey with an orange collar and orange trim. Black shorts with orange socks and white trim.

History

Prior to South Africa entering franchises into the then Super 12, the domestic Currie Cup sides competed instead. The Free State Cheetahs, one of the sides that make up the current Central Cheetahs, competed in one Super 12 season in 1997.^[2] The Free State played 11 matches, winning 5 and losing 6. They placed 7th on the end of season standings.

Proposals by the Central Union franchise and the SEC (Southern and Eastern Cape) franchise were studied for the allocation of a fifth Super Rugby team licence. The Central Union emphasized points to the SARU such as that the region is second only to the Western Province in terms of producing players for the national side. The Central Union noted that they have a strong and stable fanbase that would be able to meet financial and administrative responsibilities and demands of a Super 14 rugby side.^[3]

In mid April 2005, the South African Rugby Union announced that the Central Unions franchise would be its fifth team for the expanded Super 14 competition that would begin in 2006. They were awarded the franchise ahead of the Southern and Eastern Cape (see Southern Spears). In the pre-season of their entrance to the new look Super 14 competition, the Cheetahs played both of the other new franchises, new Australian team; the Western Force and 2007 fellow South African team, the Southern Spears. The Cheetahs proved to be the strongest out of the new sides, demolishing the Spears 48 to nil and soundly defeating the Force in Perth. The Cheetahs played their first game on 10 February, proving they are fighting fit, but were not good enough on the day for the South African Bulls, losing their first official match in Bloemfontein 18 points to 30. The Cheetahs won their first Super 14 game in week two, defeating the Sharks in a thrilling match seeing the Cheetahs win by a single point, 27 to 26. Entering round four of the 2006 season, the Cheetahs were facing the table leaders, the Hurricanes. In a surprise result, the Cheetahs beat the table leaders, thus winning their first home game and proving they deserve to be in the Super 14.^{[citation needed]}

The Cheetahs finally broke their drought in overseas matches with an upset over the New South Wales Waratahs on 19 March 2011.

Following SANZAAR's decision to reduce the number of teams for 2018, the South African Rugby Union announced that the Cheetahs would be one of the teams cut from the 2018 competition. Instead, the Cheetahs joined the previously Northern Hemisphere-exclusive Pro14 competition prior to the 2017–18 season.

The Cheetahs were unable to compete in the 2020–21 Pro14 due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions. Instead, the team played the Super Rugby Unlocked in late 2020 and the Preparation Series in early 2021. However, the Cheetahs were not invited into the Pro14 Rainbow Cup. The Pro14 was rebranded as the United Rugby Championship for the 2021–22, and the team was not selected to enter it.

Since 2022, the Cheetahs play in the EPCR Challenge Cup as an invited team.

Honours

Minor Honours

• Lafarge Zimbabwe Champions Cup winners
• Toyota Challenge: winners 9 times runner up 3 times

Stadia

The Cheetahs' home stadium is the Free State Stadium, previously referred to as Vodacom Park for sponsorship purposes, located in Bloemfontein. The stadium had its capacity increased to 48,000 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium is the home of Free State rugby as it is also home to the Free State Cheetahs, a Currie Cup side which produces a large number of players for the Cheetahs franchise. A then-capacity crowd of 37,383 watched the Cheetahs in their first official Super 14 match against the Bulls on 10 February 2006.

The Cheetahs also previously played matches at Griquas Park in Kimberley, the home of the Griqualand West Rugby Union, and at North West Stadium in Welkom, the home of the Griffons Rugby Union.

Season by season record

Competition	Season	Cheetahs seasons											Top try scorer		Top point scorer
		Pos	Finals	P	W	L	D	F	A	-/+	BP	Pts	Name	Tries	Name	Points
Super 14	2006	10th	–	13	5	8	0	272	367	–95	7	27	Giscard Pieters	5	Meyer Bosman	81
	2007	11th	–	13	4	8	1	265	342	–77	4	22	3 players	2	Willem de Waal	54
	2008	13th	–	13	1	12	0	255	428	–173	9	13	Jongi Nokwe	7	Conrad Barnard	47
	2009	14th	–	13	2	11	0	213	341	–128	3	11	Jongi Nokwe	6	Jacques-Louis Potgieter	59
	2010	11th	–	13	5	7	1	315	393	–78	4	26	Björn Basson	5	Naas Olivier	112
Super Rugby	2011	11th	–	16	5	11	0	435	437	–2	12	40	Sarel Pretorius	9	Sias Ebersohn	179
	2012	10th	–	16	5	11	0	391	458	–67	10	38	Willie le Roux	7	Johan Goosen	145
	2013	6th	Qualifying final	16	10	6	0	382	358	24	6	54	Willie le Roux	6	Burton Francis	62
	2014	14th	–	16	4	11	1	372	527	–155	6	24	Cornal Hendricks	6	Johan Goosen	143
	2015	13th	–	16	4	12	0	247	434	–187	6	22	Boom Prinsloo	8	Joe Pietersen	92
	2016	14th	–	15	4	11	0	377	425	–48	5	21	Sergeal Petersen	9	Fred Zeilinga	79
	2017	13th	—	15	4	11	0	395	551	–156	5	21	Raymond Rhule	6	Fred Zeilinga	108
Pro14	2017–18	3rd	Quarter-finals	21	12	9	0	609	554	55	15	63	Makazole Mapimpi	10	Fred Zeilinga	86
	2018–19	6th	—	21	8	12	1	541	606	–61	12	46	Rabz Maxwane	14	Tian Schoeman	134
	2019–20	4th	—	13	6	7	0	342	280	+62	7	32	Rhyno Smith	10	Ruan Pienaar	73
Super Rugby Unlocked	2020	4th	—	6	3	2	1	126	106	20	3	17	Rosko Specman	4	Tian Schoeman	36
Preparation Series	2021	2nd Pool A	—	4	3	1	0	159	105	54	2	14	2 players	3	François Steyn	31

• Bold indicates current team player

Current squad

The Cheetahs squad for 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup is:^[4][5]

Cheetahs EPCR Challenge Cup squad
Props   Aranos Coetzee   Cameron Dawson   Schalk Ferreira   Justin Forwood   Banele Mthenjane   Alulutho Tshakweni   Hencus van Wyk   Laurence Victor Hookers   Marko Janse van Rensburg   Vernon Paulo   Ben Pitout   Marnus van der Merwe   Louis van der Westhuizen   Janus Venter Locks   Rynier Bernardo   Sibabalo Qoma   Victor Sekekete (c)   Carl Wegner   Mzwanele Zito	Loose forwards   Daniel Maartens   Thabang Mahlasi   Oupa Mohojé   Andisa Ntsila   Friedle Olivier   Jeandré Rudolph   Gideon van der Merwe Scrum-halves   Ruben de Haas   Rewan Kruger   Raegan Oranje   Ruan Pienaar   Chris van der Westhuizen Fly-halves   Reinhardt Fortuin   George Lourens   Abner van Reenen	Centres   Evardi Boshoff   Robert Ebersohn   Ali Mgijima Wingers   Munier Hartzenberg   Daniel Kasende   Tapiwa Mafura   Litha Nkula   Shaun Ray Fullbacks   Cohen Jasper   Andell Loubser   Siba Xamlashe
(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped and ^L denotes a player on loan for the tournament.

Coaches

•   Rassie Erasmus (2006–2007)
•   Naka Drotské (2008–2015)
•   Franco Smith (2016–2017)
•   Rory Duncan (2017–2018)
•   Franco Smith (2018–2019)
•   Hawies Fourie (2019–present)

Captains

•   Juan Smith (2006–2011)
•   Adriaan Strauss (2012–2014)
•   Francois Uys (2015)
•   Francois Venter (2016–2018)
•   Oupa Mohojé (2018)
•   Tian Meyer (2018–present)

Records

Pro14 records

The Cheetahs' Pro14 records are as follows (updated 11 February 2018):

Team Match Records
Record	Opposition	Venue	Season
Biggest win:	Southern Kings	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	2017–18	24
Heaviest defeat:	Munster	Thomond Park, Limerick	2017–18	33
Highest score:	Zebre	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	54
Most points conceded:	Munster	Thomond Park, Limerick	2017–18	51
Most tries:	Zebre	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	8
Most tries conceded:	Munster	Thomond Park, Limerick	2017–18	8

Player Match Records
Record	Player	Opposition	Venue	Season
Most points by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	Leinster	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	18
Most tries by a player:	Nico Lee	Southern Kings	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	2017–18	3
Most conversions by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	Zebre	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	7
Most penalties by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	Leinster	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	4
	Ernst Stapelberg	Glasgow Warriors	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	4
Most drop goals by a player:	No drop goals yet

Team Season Records
Record	Matches	Season
Most team points:	in 14 matches	2017–18	430
Most team tries:	in 14 matches	2017–18	53

Player Season Records
Record	Player	Season
Most points by a player:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	79
Most tries by a player:	Makazole Mapimpi	2017–18	10
Most conversions by a player:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	21
Most penalties by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	2017–18	14
Most drop goals by a player:	No drop goals yet

Player Career Records
Record	Player	Seasons
Most appearances:	Rynier Bernardo	2017–18	14
	Aranos Coetzee	2017–18	14
	Charles Marais	2017–18	14
	Ox Nché	2017–18	14
	Shaun Venter	2017–18	14
Most points:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	79
Most tries:	Makazole Mapimpi	2017–18	10
Most conversions:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	21
Most penalties:	Ernst Stapelberg	2017–18	14
Most drop goals:	No drop goals yet

Super Rugby records

The Cheetahs' Super Rugby records are as follows:

Team Match Records
Record	Opposition	Venue	Season
Biggest win:	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	75
Heaviest defeat:	Hurricanes	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	2017	54
Highest score:	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	92
Most points conceded:	Brumbies	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	2010	61
	Hurricanes	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	2010	61
Most tries:	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	14
Most tries conceded:	Brumbies	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	2010	9
	Hurricanes	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	2010	9

Player Match Records
Record	Player	Opposition	Venue	Season
Most points by a player:	Meyer Bosman	Stormers	Newlands Stadium, Cape Town	2006	26
Most tries by a player:	Rayno Benjamin	Stormers	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2011	3
	Sergeal Petersen	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	3
	Sarel Pretorius	Hurricanes	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2011	3
	Paul Schoeman	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	3
	Riaan Viljoen	Lions	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	2011	3
Most conversions by a player:	Niel Marais	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	8
Most penalties by a player:	Meyer Bosman	Stormers	Newlands Stadium, Cape Town	2006	8
Most drop goals by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	Hurricanes	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2011	2
	Riaan Viljoen	Brumbies	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2011	2

Team Season Records
Record	Matches	Season
Most team points:	in 16 matches	2011	435
Most team tries:	in 15 matches	2016	47

Player Season Records
Record	Player	Season
Most points by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	179
Most tries by a player:	Sergeal Petersen	2016	9
	Sarel Pretorius	2011	9
Most conversions by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	32
Most penalties by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	33
Most drop goals by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	2
	Naas Olivier	2010	2
	Joe Pietersen	2015	2
	Riaan Viljoen	2011	2

Player Career Records
Record	Player	Seasons
Most appearances:	Adriaan Strauss	2007–2014	97
Most points:	Johan Goosen	2012–2014	331
Most tries:	Sarel Pretorius	2009–2015	24
Most conversions:	Johan Goosen	2012–2014	46
Most penalties:	Johan Goosen	2012–2014	70
Most drop goals:	Sias Ebersohn	2010–2011	2
	Naas Olivier	2009–2010	2
	Joe Pietersen	2015	2
	Riaan Viljoen	2010–2011	2

See also

•  Sports portal
•  South Africa portal

• Rugby union in South Africa

References

1. "It's a new generation Cheetah!" (Press release). Cheetahs. 3 December 2015. from the original on 7 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
2. . CRFU. Archived from the original on 20 March 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2007.
3. . Who Will Get The Fifth Franchise?. Archived from the original on 22 August 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2006.
4. "EPCR Challenge Cup Players". Cheetahs. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
5. "Toyota Cheetahs - Squad". EPCR Challenge Cup. Retrieved 4 December 2023.

External links

• Official website