The Cheetahs host the Bulls in Bloemfontein on Saturday and by the time this Super Rugby match kicks off the Bulls will know whether they have been knocked out of the play offs.
The Bulls need the Sharks to lose to or draw with the Sunwolves on Friday and if that happens the Pretoria franchise will still have a chance to make the play offs.
The reality is that given that the Sunwolves are the last placed team in Super Rugby its highly likely that the Bulls will have been eliminated from the play offs which will make this match a pride match.
The Cheetahs have played the Bulls 16 times since 2006 and they have won two matches and lost 14. This gives the Cheetahs a record of winning 13% of their matches against the Bulls.
This week the match will be played in Bloemfontein where the teams have met 8 times. In those matches the Cheetahs have only won once.
The average score when the Cheetahs play the Bulls in Bloemfontein is Cheetahs 22 Bulls 37 compared to Cheetahs 22 Bulls 23 overall which shows that the Bulls really enjoy visiting the city.
For this match the Bulls have named Tian Schoeman to start at flyhalf as one of two changes. Schoeman comes into the starting line up replacing Francois Brummer while Marcel van der Merwe will begin at tight head prop.
Both players started off the bench against the Sunwolves last weekend and swap places with Francois Brummer and Werner Kruger respectively.
There is one other change on the bench, with Bandise Maku coming in for Jaco Visagie.
The Cheetahs have made a number of changes for this week. Oupa Mohoje takes over the captaincy from Francois Venter who sustained a concussion during the match against the Sharks last weekend in Durban.
There are a number of other changes as Charles Marais will be starting as loosehead prop, replacing Ox Nche while Armandt Koster will be replacing Carl Wegner at lock.
William Small-Smith will be running onto the field in the number 13 jersey and is the vice-captain.
Ryno Benjamin returns to the side from injury but through the replacements bench.
These teams have already met once this season and the Bulls won that match 18-23 in Pretoria.
This Match will be shown on TV in NZ (Sky), Aus (Fox Sports), SA (SuperSport) and in the UK on Sky Sports 3 on the Red Button.
Average score: Cheetahs 22 Bulls 23
Last five results
02 Apr 2016 Cheetahs v Bulls 18-23 Pretoria
13 Jun 2015 Cheetahs v Bulls 42-29 Pretoria
07 Mar 2015 Cheetahs v Bulls 20-39 Bloemfontein
03 May 2014 Cheetahs v Bulls 21-26 Pretoria
21 Feb 2014 Cheetahs v Bulls 15-9 Bloemfontein
Cheetahs overall record against the Bulls
Played 16, Wins 2 , Losses 14 , Draws 0
Match No.134: Cheetahs v Bulls
Date : Saturday 16 July 2016
Venue : Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick Off local: 19:15 local
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant Ref 1:AJ Jacobs
Assistant Ref 2:Lourens van der Merwe
TMO : Johan Greeff
Teams
Cheetahs
1. Charles Marais , 2. Torsten van Jaarsveld , 3. Maks van Dyk , 4. Armandt Koster , 5. Francois Uys , 6. Uzair Cassiem , 7. Oupa Mohoje (C) , 8. Paul Schoeman , 9. Shaun Venter , 10. Fred Zeilinga , 11. Raymond Rhule , 12. Michael van der Spuy , 13. William Small-Smith (VC) , 14. Sergeal Petersen , 15. Clayton Blommetjies
Replacements: 16. Joseph Dweba , 17. Ox Nche , 18. Johan Coetzee , 19. Reniel Hugo , 20. Henco Venter , 21. Tian Meyer , 22. George Whitehead , 23. Ryno Benjamin
Bulls
Jesse Kriel, Jamba Ulengo, Dries Swanepoel, Burger Odendaal, Travis Ismaiel, Tian Schoeman, Piet van Zyl, Renaldo Bothma, Jannes Kirsten, Lappies Labuschagne, Marvin Orie, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss (c), Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: Bandise Maku, Nqoba Mxoli, Werner Kruger, Grant Hattingh, Arno Botha, Rudy Paige, Francois Brummer, SP Marais.
