Toyota Cheetahs Director of Rugby Frans Steyn moved to clarify his comments earlier in the week that the team wanted to play in Super Rugby rather than the EPCR Challenge Cup in future.
As the Cheetahs arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday ahead of their first match in the Challenge Cup against Perpignan and selected their strongest side for the clash at their “home” ground.
While Steyn said the future currently is unsustainable for the Cheetahs in Europe and they needed more competition, with the hope that Super Rugby would be their future, the franchise released a statement on Friday reaffirming their commitment to the EPCR competition and saying that Steyn’s comments may have been “misunderstood.”
“As a team, the Cheetahs are deeply grateful for the opportunity to compete in the EPCR Challenge Cup,” the release stated under Steyn’s name.
“The comments in question were solely intended to highlight the challenges of competing away from home and were in no way a critique of the competition itself. I want to emphasise that I greatly respect European rugby and the EPCR.
“I have had the privilege of playing in Europe for seven years and hold the competition and its participants in the highest regard. The level of rugby in Europe is exceptional, and I admire the quality of rugby played at this level.
“We are grateful to be part of a quality competition like the EPCR Challenge Cup. It is an honour to play against some of the best clubs in Europe, and we are committed to doing our best in the competition.”
The Cheetahs will be led by regular captain Victor Sekekete in Sunday’s match.
TOYOTA CHEETAHS: Michael Annies; Munier Hartzenberg, Carel-Jan Coetzee, Ali Mgijima, Prince Nkabinde; Ethan Wentzel, Ruben de Haas; Jeandre Rudolph, Friedle Olivier, Gideon van der Merwe, Victor Sekekete (captain), Carl Wegner, Aranos Coetzee, Louis van der Westhuizen, Schalk Ferreira.
REPLACEMENTS: Vernon Paulo, Hencus van Wyk, Robert Hunt, Pierre-Raymond Uys, Oupa Mohoje, Daniel Maartens, Rewan Kruger, George Lourens.