The Emerging Ireland team made a handful of changes to their squad for this evening’s Toyota Challenge fixture against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

James Culhane has been named as the captain of the team and he will form the new back-row with Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo.

In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at flyhalf and forms the halfback combination with his Leinster teammate Cormac Foley.

Sean Edogbo (right). Photo: Morgan Piek

Hugh Gavin and Hugh Cooney will run out at centre, while Zac Ward will play on the wing again. On the bench, George Hadden, of Munster will get his first opportunity after being called up to the squad last week.

The coach, Simon Easterby, said they expect a big challenge from the Cheetahs on Wednesday and will need to raise the bar even more after their wins against the Pumas and Western Force.

“The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them,” said Easterby.

“It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times.

“The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”

Meanwhile, three Emerging Irish players have returned to their respective clubs for the upcoming Irish derbies in the United Rugby Championship. They are Sean O’Brien of Munster, Gus McCarthy of Leinster, and Jude Postlethwaite of Ulster.

Leinster will host Munster in Dublin on Saturday, while Ulster will tackle Connacht at Ravenhill in Belfast.

Wednesday night’s game at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 19:00.

Cheetahs – 15 Michael Annies, 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Munier Hartzenberg, 12 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 11 Asanda Kunene, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Friedle Olivier, 7 Sisonke Vumazonke, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Corné Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Replacements – 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Laurens Victor, 19 Ulrich Stander, 20 Neels Volschenk, 21 Jandré Nel, 22 George Lourens, 23 Cohen Jasper

Emerging Ireland – 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Andrew Osborne, 13 Hugh Cooney, 12 Hugh Gavin, 11 Zac Ward, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 James Culhane (captain), 7 Sean Edogbo, 6 Harry Sheridan, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Stephen Smyth, 1 Alex Usanov

Replacements – 16 Danny Sheahan, 17 George Hadden, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20 Alex Soroka, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Jack Murphy, 23 Charlie Tector

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek  mvh