Cheetahs Bok in surprise comeback
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:03
A training ground mishap has opened the door for a sooner than expected return for veteran Springbok lock Barend Pieterse, who will be on the Cheetahs' bench when they face the Stormers in an all-South African Super 14 derby at Newlands on Saturday.
The Cheetahs starting XV for the trip to Cape Town shows just one change - forgotten Bok Hendro Scholtz for the injured Bok Heinrich Brüssow at openside flank.
The replacements bench does show a few changes.
Top of that list is the inclusion of Pieterse for fellow lock David de Villiers, who injured his shoulder in a training run on Tuesday. It is uncertain how long De Villiers will be sidelined for, but it could be months, rather than weeks.
The only other change will see the return of midfielder Corné Uys, who recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in the opening round against the Bulls. He takes the place of Riaan Viljoen on the bench, after the latter was "stood down" over a breach of team protocol.
However, it is the return of Pieterse that will raise the eyebrows.
Pieterse made a comeback after more than a year out of the game, the 30-year-old called it quits at the end of 2008.
However, Pieterse never stopped training and had been involved in the game since his retirement - mostly as a line-out coach with the Cheetahs.
He was planning to make his comeback in the Currie Cup - with a remote possibility that he could be involved in the latter stages of the Super 14.
He started training with the Cheetahs in January and it was decided that he would be "eased back" in through the Vodacom Cup.
However, on Tuesday De Villiers was injured and the Cheetahs coaching staff decided to fall back on the experience of Pieterse for the Newlands outing.
He did not represent South Africa in a Test, but was in the 2007 tour squad to Europe and wore the Green and Gold against the Barbarians at Twickenham.
His return comes just a week after the loss of the freakishly talented Brüssow, who underwent surgery last week - following the knee injury he suffered in the win over the Hurricanes almost a fortnight ago.
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Frans Viljoen, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Barend Pieterse, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Corné Uys, 22 Danwel Demas.
Date: Saturday, March 20
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Vinny Munro (New Zealand), Reuben Rossouw
(South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
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