Do or die for Cheetahs

It’s do or die for the Toyota Cheetahs as they host Section Paloise (Pau) in their EPCR Challenge Cup match on Sunday.

Put plainly, if the Cheetahs don’t win the game, they are out of Europe and their hopes of making an impression come crashing down.

Both sides are on six points - Pau being just within the top-six qualification zone and the Cheetahs just outside of it. The only thing that separates the two sides is points difference, with Pau on negative five and the Cheetahs on negative 17.

The stakes are thus high for the clash and the Bloemfontein side will want to use their temporary base of Parma to give them an extra boost ahead of the match.

“It’s a knockout game. If we win then we will go through, otherwise, Pau will go through,” Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie said.

“It has a bit of a semifinal feeling around it. We’ve prepared well this week and had a good week on the training field, so everyone is excited.”

The Cheetahs know while it may just seem like another knockout game, they will feel extra pressure in wanting to prove they should be allowed to be back in Europe after their brief foray into the Pro14.

But without their big guns in Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn they are not at full strength

Pau have had their own problems, after their attack coach Geoffrey Lanne-Petit was suspended for five weeks earlier this month and they were handed a massive suspended fine after he verbally abused the assistant referee during the first-round game between the two sides.

This weekend will be full of needle between the two sides, especially with qualification on the line.