The Cheetahs and the Southern Kings will meet this weekend in the first of their back-to-back derby games in the Guinness Pro 14.
The game takes place on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth where the teams last met in July when they made their final appearances in Super Rugby.
After their loss in Italy to Benetton Rugby last weekend, the Cheetahs will be eager to get back to winning ways away from Bloemfontein as they seek to keep the pressure on Munster in Conference A in their bid to reach the Guinness Pro 14 Final Series in their first Championship campaign.
Cardiff Blues and Connacht are also chasing the Cheetahs for a place in the knock-out stages and, including Munster, all three teams still have to travel to South Africa to face Rory Duncan’s side.
Deon Davids’ Kings have won four bonus points to date and came close to breaking their duck in narrow losses to Ulster and Scarlets.
The Kings have shown flashes of excitement throughout the season so far and the occasion of their first-ever South African derby in the Championship and a return to home soil should provide plenty of motivation against their rivals from the Free State.
The two sides have never met before in the Pro 14, but in Super Rugby Cheetahs have won all four previous fixtures between the two.
Cheetahs two previous victories at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium were 34-22 in May 2013 and 21-20 in July 2017.
ANA
