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The Lions make the one hour flight south from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein and face the Cheetahs in Super Rugby Round 15. Join us here on The Roar from 1.05am (AEST) for live scores and updates.
The last time Cheetahs won against the Lions was three years ago in the same stadium, by a margin of 21 points.
In order to repeat this, the Cheetahs have to run through the best tacklers in the tournament.
Lions captain Warren Whiteley is the tournament’s top tackler and averages almost 15 tackles a match. His team mate Warwick Tacklenburg is top five this year, whilst lock Franco Mostert is amongst the best in the business.
Conversely the Cheetahs top tackler, Boom Prinslow, is the the fourth best defender this year. His issue is that quite a few of his team mates are amogst the worst this year, including their chief playmarker Joe Pieterson.
But the Cheetahs will continue to miss their attack general, along with his halfback partner Sariel Pretorius. They are both injured.
The Cheetahs have to be at their best form if they hope to keep out high octane attackers such as Andreis Coetzee, Jaco Kriel, Ruan Combrinck and Harold Vorster.
Whilst the Lions have the better scrum, the Cheetahs have a better lineout.
If the Cheetahs are not able to hold out the scrums, the bookies odds may come true and concede an Lions easy win who normally surge in the second half of the game.
If the Cheetahs can maintain possession, territory and score enough points in the first half, they may be able to win their first cat fight in three years.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.