Over the past weekend the defending champions, Leinster, taught the Cheetahs a lesson in playing in wet and windy conditions with a clinical 36-12 victory.

The Cheetahs second-half performance was much better and this is something they will look to use during their prep this week.

Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that despite the scoreline, they will take a lot of their performance against Leinster.

“We finished the game with 36% possession, but in the first half we had less than 20%, and that was the big difference.

“Adapting to the conditions, executing your setpiece and playing the kind of rugby you need to in these conditions is something that we can still work on.

“We can take a bit of heart out of the last 30 minutes. Leinster is one of the top teams in the Northern Hemisphere. They are used to and very efficient in these conditions, and we can learn a lot from them.

“After the game, I told the players that if you want to know how to play in these conditions, just have a look at Leinster. If you follow that template, you will be successful.

“We will learn from them, and we will learn from our own mistakes.”

Meanwhile, the match in Belfast is being met with a lot of excitement, especially from the local rugby lovers.

It will be the first time that the Cheetahs captain, Ruan Pienaar, will be playing there again since he last represented Ulster back in 2017. Pienaar, who is considered to be an Ulster legend, playing in 101 PRO rugby games for the Irish side.

Saturday’s match between Leinster and the Cheetahs at the Kingspan Stadium kicks off at 21:35.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport