The Cheetahs will now shift their focus to Europe again, where they will be playing in the Challenge Cup starting next month.

The Central Franchise are in a group with Section Paloise of France and the Scarlets of Wales. While the Cheetahs have never played against Pau, they do have PRO14 experience against the Welsh team.

The Cheetahs' centre, Evardi Boshoff, told OFM Sport that they are eager to prove themselves overseas.

"We are starting with our preparation for the European Challenge Cup and everyone in the squad is excited," said the centre, who recently made his return from a long injury lay-off.

"We really want to make a statement as we have been waiting for this opportunity to be in an international competition for so long.

"We want to play against those teams and show what we have and can bring to the table."

Playing in Europe in December, tended to be an Achilles heel for the Cheetahs in their PRO Rugby days, and they will want to implement those lessons learnt, albeit the vast majority of the squad didn’t play in the competition.

Boshoff added that they have their plans in place and the onus is on the players to execute them before heading to Europe.

"In terms of the weather - we have been taking a look at it and preparing for wet weather and conditions.

"We didn't get the opportunity to play in wet conditions in the Toyota Challenge, but we will definitely have a look at that and hopefully we can get the plans straight before we go in December."

The Cheetahs' first game in the Challenge Cup will be on 10 December against Section Paloise in Pau.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport