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Eight players commit futures to Toyota Cheetahs

Free State Rugby is delighted to announce that eight talented players have committed their future with the Toyota Cheetahs until 2019 and they are William Small-Smith, Nico Lee, Elandré Huggett, Ernst Stapelberg, JP du Preez, Lloyd Greeff, Sibabalo Qoma and Dennis Visser.

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Indications are that announcements on a number of other top players can be expected soon due to the fact that the contracting process only just started.

William Small-Smith (Centre)

Date of Birth 31 March 1992
Super Rugby Debut: 2014 vs. Highlanders (Bulls)
Guinness PRO14: 1 September 2017 vs Ulster
Springbok Sevens: 2011 – 2012

Fast and with a proven ability to finish, Small-Smith’s real strength lies in his on-field organisational and leadership traits. A leader of men with a natural feel for the game, the developing centre will become even more influential in years to come.

He made his debut against the Highlanders in April last year and showed why he was so highly rated. Deft touches and solid defence allowed players around him to blossom and more of the same can be expected of this gifted midfielder in 2015.

Small-Smith played in 8 of 10 games in the 2016 Currie Cup, the two matches he didn’t play was the Semi Final against the Lions in Bloemfontein and in the Home Final against the Blue Bulls. (2016 Currie Cup Champions). Small-Smith has a total of 28 Currie Cup caps to his name with a total of 21 SuperRugby matches and 10 Guinness PRO14 caps so far.

Nico Lee (Centre)

Date of Birth 13 March 1994
Currie Cup Debut: 2016 vs WP (Cheetahs)
Super Rugby Debut: 2016 vs. Bulls (Cheetahs)
Guinness PRO14: 16 September 2017 vs Zebre

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Lee played schoolboy rugby for Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Pretoria, but missed out on selection for the Blue Bulls’ squad for the Craven Week competition in 2012. In 2013, Lee moved to Bloemfontein where he represented the Free State U19 side in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship competition, making eleven starts during the season, scoring four tries and a penalty during the campaign.

Lee played 8 of 10 games in the 2016 Currie Cup, including the Semi Final against the Lions in Bloemfontein and in the Home Final against the Blue Bulls. (2016 Currie Cup Champions). Lee has a total of 9 Currie Cup caps to his name and represented the Toyota Cheetahs in 14 Super Rugby matches and 12 Guinness PRO14 matches to date. Nico scored a hat-trick of tries against the Kings on the 13th of January 2018 in a Guinness PRO14 match in Port Elizabeth.

Elandre Hugget (Hooker)

Date of Birth 5 October 1991
Currie Cup Debut: 2012 vs Griquas
Super Rugby Debut: 2015 vs. Waratahs (Cheetahs)

He joined Welkom-based side Griffons in 2013 and played 15 matches. He was a key member of their 2014 Currie Cup First Division side. He played in the final and helped the Griffons win the match against the Valke 23–21 to win their first trophy for six years.

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In 2015 he played in 2 Super Rugby matches making his debut on 6 June 2015 against the Waratahs in Bloemfontein as a substitute for Torsten van Jaarsveld. Huggett has a total of 15 SuperRugby caps and 16 Currie Cup caps to his name.

Ernst Stapelberg (Flyhalf)

Date of Birth 6 February 1995
Guinness PRO14 debut: 16 September 2017 vs. Zebre

Having represented South Africa at the 2015 U20 World Champions Ernst Stapelberg continued to represent his University, Maties, in the Varsity Cup.

With an accurate boot and array of skills, he helped Maties to the 2017 Varsity Cup final and he was eventually named in the Dream Team. His efforts earned him a call up into the Western Province squad for the 2017 Currie Cup.

In late August 2017, the Free State Cheetahs bolstered their squad with the signing of the former Junior Springbok for the remainder of their Currie Cup season and he also made his debut for the Guinness PRO14 side and playing four matches. Stapelberg is currently rated under the top 15 best Guinness PRO14 kickers in the 2017/18 championship.

JP du Preez (Lock)

Date of Birth 9 November 1994

In 2015, Du Preez was included in the Lions squad for the 2015 Super Rugby season and was named on the bench for their Round two matches against the Sharks. He made his Super Rugby debut, coming on as a substitute just after the hour mark and, in doing so, becoming the tallest player ever to play Super Rugby. Du Preez signed with the Toyota Cheetahs in 2017 till 2019.

Lloyd Greeff (Centre)

Date of Birth 3 January 1994

Greeff joined the Golden Lions, but suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of action for the majority of his Lions career. He made just a single senior appearance for the team, as a late replacement in a 35–all draw against the Eastern Province Kings in the 2016 Currie Cup.

Greeff moved to Italy to join Pro12 side Zebre before the 2016–2017 season.

He played his first Currie Cup match for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs from the bench in 2017 against WP in Cape Town. He played his first Currie Cup match in the starting line-up against the Pumas at Toyota Stadium.

Sibabalo Qoma (Lock/flank)

Date of Birth 14 August 1995

Sibabalo Qoma came through the Toyota Free State Academy and was named the Toyota Free State XV player the year for 2017 after a good year on the field.

Dennis Visser (Lock)

Date of Birth 20 February 1993
Currie Cup Debut 19 August 2017 vs. Bulls
Guinness PRO14 4 November 2017 vs. Connacht

Visser was named in the training squad of Bloemfontein-based Super Rugby franchise the Cheetahs for the 2016 Super Rugby season. [17] In January 2016, he was released from the training squad to join Varsity Cup side UFS Shimlas.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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