The Cheetahs are on a high after beating Glasgow Warriors, Ulster and Munster convincingly in Bloemfontein, however, their first tour will bring new challenges.

The Cheetahs will tackle Connacht in Galway this week before travelling to Wales where the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues will be waiting.

The new coach, Hawies Fourie, has had just more than a week with the team before their departure and admitted to OFM Sport that there are some nerves but his happy what has been implemented ahead of their departure.

“I am feeling a lot better after our training this morning (Tuesday). Up until yesterday, our execution wasn’t as good as it should be. Some of the players were also a bit jittery.

“We’ve kept most of the things the same, but we have changed one or two things, and we’ve also put some emphasis on a couple of other things.

“Getting to grips with what we wanted to do and play made everyone a bit jittery, but this morning it was a lot better.”

The Cheetahs welcome the tighthead prop, Aranos Coetzee, back from the Rugby World Cup where he represented Namibia. The big man has been missed as the pillar of the team lately but Fourie is delighted to have him back, and he also indicated that Jasper Wiese is in line for the starting role as Henco Venter has joined the Sharks.

“Aranos is a really important player in our team and we could see that in the Currie Cup. When he left for the World Cup we were in trouble at scrum time.

“Luckily he is back and Luan de Bruin has recovered from his injury, so we are fortunate to have really good tightheads which will be beneficial in the circumstances overseas.

“Sias Koen will be on the bench, but he will be the next loose-forward to come in. A guy like Jasper Wiese has a big role to play now. He only played forty minutes in the previous games and I told him that he has to be an eighty-minute player now.

“He will have to make a big step-up conditioning-wise but he is a very good ball carrier and he has a very good feel for the game. He will be in the starting line-up and Sias will replace one of the three loose-forwards in the game, but he will also get more game time than in the three previous games.”

Meanwhile, the last time the Cheetahs visited Galway a group of expat-supporters made their voice heard and have dubbed themselves as the Cheetahs Supporters Club in Ireland.

The Cheetahs captain, Ruan Pienaar, told OFM Sport that they are happy to have any support they can get on tour.

“We’ve built a good reputation as a team which plays as a good brand of rugby. People appreciate that and I am sure that were will a few people that follow us around on tour.

“In general the support in the Northern Hemisphere is fantastic. People over there have a great knowledge of the game and they support all the teams well, whether you’re the home team or a visiting team.

“They respect what you are trying to do on the field, so it’s always exciting to go and there and it always nice to see some home supporters following the team and supporting.”

Connacht and the Cheetahs square off on Saturday evening with kick-off in Galway at 18:15.

Possible Cheetahs starting XV – 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Oc Nche.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport