The pair have been included in the squad to travel to Europe for the mini-tour.

Cassiem has spent the majority of his time following the Super Rugby in the Springbok setup and has not had the chance to compete in the Northern Hemisphere yet. There was a period in which he was not at the national and could have played some Pro14 rugby, had it not been for an injury he sustained during the Rugby Championship.

Marais in his turn sustained an injury before the Pro14 kicked-off in September and he has been nursing the shoulder injury ever since.

Ernst Stapelberg, who at one stage was the leading point-scorer in the competition makes way in the squad for Marais. This is perhaps due to the fact during the team’s previous trip to Italy to face Treviso the experience of Fred Zeilinga proved to be invaluable in securing a late win in Parma.

Oupa Mohoje also makes a return to the side after the Springboks end-of-year-tour to Ireland, France, Italy and Wales. This has left the coach Rory Duncan with a real poser seeing that he opted to leave Henco Venter, Daniel Maartens and Jasper Wiese at home.

Francois Venter takes over the leadership duties from Torsten van Jaarsveld after he too re-joined the squad following national duty. The newly engaged midfielder was one of the few standout players during the Boks' last three Tests in 2017, and will be sure to lead from the front on Saturday.

Zee Mkhabela has been named in the side as the backup scrumhalf to Shaun Venter. Tian Meyer has been ruled out with a groin injury which could mean an operation and at least six weeks on the sidelines.

Clinton Swart, who also recovered from an injury, will not be boarding the flight due to tonsillitis. He too got engaged during the festive break. Clayton Blommetjies in his turn is battling with a bout of flu and will not feature either. It’s almost a given that Duncan will start Craig Barry, however, the question remains whether it will be on the winger or in his preferred position on fullback.

The Cheetahs board the flight for Johannesburg at 15:25 on Wednesday afternoon, and then depart for Venice on two flights just before 20:00.

Saturday afternoon’s game at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Treviso kicks off at 15:15 (SA Time).

Toyota Cheetahs squad:

Forwards - Rynier Bernardo, Tom Botha, Uzair Cassiem, Aranos Coetzee, Luan de Bruin, Jacques du Toit, Joseph Dweba, Reniel Hugo, Charles Marais, Oupa Mohoje, Ox Nche, Junior Pokomela, Tier Schoeman, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Carl Wegner.

Backs – Craig Barry, AJ Coertzen, Nico Lee, Makazole Mapimpi, Niel Marais, Zee Mkhabela, William Small-Smith, Francois Venter, Shaun Venter, Fred Zeilinga.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport