Such is the extent of the injury list at the Cheetahs that coach Franco Smith had to open a spreadsheet to read the names of injured players not available for this weekend’s Super Rugby clash against Japan’s Sunwolves in Bloemfontein. Counting aloud, Smith tallied 13 players including centres Nico Lee and Francois Venter‚ prop Ox Nche‚ lock Reniel Hugo and Bok flank Uzair Cassiem‚ who are not available. In any week that would be a catastrophic injury roster to overcome but fortunately the Sunwolves are not cut from the same cloth as the New Zealand teams in this competition. The Japanese outfit conceded 83 points in their season opener against an understrength Hurricanes in Tokyo and in the second week leaked another 37 against wooden-spoon opponents Southern Kings in Singapore. They would battle to beat Shimlas over 80 minutes. Smith would never admit it‚ but he will not be having sleepless nights over the gaps in the team for the upcoming match. After last week’s impressive 34-28 ...
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