Cheetahs (rugby union)

The Cheetahs, known as the Toyota Cheetahs for sponsorship reasons, is a South African professional rugby union team based in Bloemfontein in the Free State Province. They compete annually in the Currie Cup and SA Cup domestically, and have been an invitational team in the European Challenge Cup since 2022–23 season. Formerly known as Orange Free State they were originally established in 1895.

Cheetahs

Union	South African Rugby Union
Emblem	Cheetah
Founded	1895 (1895)
Location	Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa
Region	Free State Northern Cape
Ground(s)	Free State Stadium (Capacity: 46,000)
Coach	François Steyn
Captain	Louis van der Westhuizen
Leagues	Challenge Cup Currie Cup SA Cup
2025–26 (EPCR) 2025 (CC) 2026 (SA)	6th of 6, Pool stage 3rd of 8, Semi-finals 3rd of 10, Semi-finals
Team kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.fscheetahs.co.za

Between 2006 and 2017, and again in 2020, the Cheetahs were one of five South African franchise teams in the Super Rugby competition, an inter-continental rugby union franchise competition. After being cut from the Super Rugby following the 2017 season, the Cheetahs were admitted to the Pro14, a franchise rugby union competition based in Europe. The Cheetahs, alongside the Southern Kings, competed in the European-based Pro14 from South Africa until the 2019–20 season.

The franchise area encompasses the western half of the Free State Province. Between 2006 and 2015, the Griffons from the eastern half of the Free State and Griquas from the Northern Cape province were Cheetahs franchise partners, but this ended prior to the 2016 Super Rugby season.

Strip

The primary strip for the Toyota Cheetahs is an orange jersey with a white collar and white trim. Black shorts with orange socks and white trim. The colours are representative of the Free State Currie Cup side; orange and white (Free State Cheetahs). The alternative jersey is the same design, though it is a white jersey with an orange collar and orange trim. Black shorts with orange socks and white trim. designed by Lutkin Kemp

History

Prior to South Africa entering franchises into the then Super 12, the domestic Currie Cup sides competed instead. The Free State Cheetahs, one of the sides that make up the current Central Cheetahs, competed in one Super 12 season in 1997. The Free State played 11 matches, winning 5 and losing 6. They placed 7th on the end of season standings.

Proposals by the Central Union franchise and the SEC (Southern and Eastern Cape) franchise were studied for the allocation of a fifth Super Rugby team licence. The Central Union emphasized points to the SARU such as that the region is second only to the Western Province in terms of producing players for the national side. The Central Union noted that they have a strong and stable fanbase that would be able to meet financial and administrative responsibilities and demands of a Super 14 rugby side.

In mid April 2005, the South African Rugby Union announced that the Central Unions franchise would be its fifth team for the expanded Super 14 competition that would begin in 2006. They were awarded the franchise ahead of the Southern and Eastern Cape (see Southern Spears). In the pre-season of their entrance to the new look Super 14 competition, the Cheetahs played both of the other new franchises, new Australian team; the Western Force and 2007 fellow South African team, the Southern Spears. The Cheetahs proved to be the strongest out of the new sides, demolishing the Spears 48 to nil and soundly defeating the Force in Perth.

The Cheetahs played their first game on 10 February, proving they are fighting fit, but were not good enough on the day for the South African Bulls, losing their first official match in Bloemfontein 18 points to 30. The Cheetahs won their first Super 14 game in week two, defeating the Sharks in a thrilling match seeing the Cheetahs win by a single point, 27 to 26. Entering round four of the 2006 season, the Cheetahs were facing the table leaders, the Hurricanes. In a surprise result, the Cheetahs beat the table leaders, thus winning their first home game and proving they deserve to be in the Super 14.

The Cheetahs finally broke their drought in overseas matches with an upset over the New South Wales Waratahs on 19 March 2011.

Following SANZAAR's decision to reduce the number of teams for 2018, the South African Rugby Union announced that the Cheetahs would be one of the teams cut from the 2018 competition. Instead, the Cheetahs joined the previously Northern Hemisphere-exclusive Pro14 competition prior to the 2017–18 season.

The Cheetahs were unable to compete in the 2020–21 Pro14 due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions. Instead, the team played the Super Rugby Unlocked in late 2020 and the Preparation Series in early 2021. However, the Cheetahs were not invited into the Pro14 Rainbow Cup. The Pro14 was rebranded as the United Rugby Championship for the 2021–22, and the team was not selected to enter it.

Since 2022, the Cheetahs play in the EPCR Challenge Cup as an invited team.

Currie Cup

The Orange Free State Rugby Union was established in 1895, but did not make it to their first Currie Cup final appearance until 1973, when they lost to Northern Transvaal 30–22 at Loftus Versfeld. They first won the competition in 1976 and have won the competition a further seven occasions (2005, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2019 & 2023). In the 1990s the side became the Free State Cheetahs. The side has also competed in further domestic competitions including the Vodacom Cup, Bankfin Nite Series, SuperSport Rugby Challenge, Toyota Challenge and SA Cup.

Currie Cup finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue
1973	Northern Transvaal	30–22	Orange Free State	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
1975	Northern Transvaal	12–6	Orange Free State	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
1976	Orange Free State	33–16	Western Province	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
1977	Northern Transvaal	27–12	Orange Free State	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
1978	Northern Transvaal	13–9	Orange Free State	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
1981	Northern Transvaal	23–6	Orange Free State	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
1994	Transvaal1	56–35	Orange Free State	Springbok Park, Bloemfontein
1997	Western Province	14–12	Free State Cheetahs2	Newlands, Cape Town
2004	Blue Bulls3	42–33	Free State Cheetahs	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
2005	Free State Cheetahs	29–25	Blue Bulls	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
2006	Free State Cheetahs	28–284	Blue Bulls	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
2007	Free State Cheetahs	20–18	Golden Lions1	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
2009	Blue Bulls	36–24	Free State Cheetahs	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
2016	Free State Cheetahs	36–16	Blue Bulls	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
2019	Free State Cheetahs	31–28	Golden Lions	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
2023	Free State Cheetahs	25–17	Pumas	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

¹ Transvaal are now known as the Golden Lions.
² Orange Free State were renamed the Free State Cheetahs.
³ Northern Transvaal were renamed the Blue Bulls.
⁴ Game was a draw after 80+20minutes, thus the cup was shared.

Vodacom Cup finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue
2000	Free State	44–24	Griquas	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
2008	Blue Bulls	25–21	Free State	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
2010	Blue Bulls	31–29	Free State	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Bankfin Nite Series finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue
1996	Free State	46–34	Border	Bloemfontein

Stadium

The Cheetahs' home stadium is the Free State Stadium, previously referred to as Vodacom Park for sponsorship purposes, located in Bloemfontein. The stadium had its capacity increased to 48,000 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium is the home of Free State rugby as it is also home to the Free State Cheetahs, a Currie Cup side which produces a large number of players for the Cheetahs franchise. A then-capacity crowd of 37,383 watched the Cheetahs in their first official Super 14 match against the Bulls on 10 February 2006.

The Cheetahs also previously played matches at Griquas Park in Kimberley, the home of the Griqualand West Rugby Union, and at North West Stadium in Welkom, the home of the Griffons Rugby Union.

Season by season record

Competition	Season	Cheetahs seasons											Top try scorer		Top point scorer
		Pos	Finals	P	W	L	D	F	A	-/+	BP	Pts	Name	Tries	Name	Points
Super 14	2006	10th	–	13	5	8	0	272	367	–95	7	27	Giscard Pieters	5	Meyer Bosman	81
	2007	11th	–	13	4	8	1	265	342	–77	4	22	3 players	2	Willem de Waal	54
	2008	13th	–	13	1	12	0	255	428	–173	9	13	Jongi Nokwe	7	Conrad Barnard	47
	2009	14th	–	13	2	11	0	213	341	–128	3	11	Jongi Nokwe	6	Jacques-Louis Potgieter	59
	2010	11th	–	13	5	7	1	315	393	–78	4	26	Björn Basson	5	Naas Olivier	112
Super Rugby	2011	11th	–	16	5	11	0	435	437	–2	12	40	Sarel Pretorius	9	Sias Ebersohn	179
	2012	10th	–	16	5	11	0	391	458	–67	10	38	Willie le Roux	7	Johan Goosen	145
	2013	6th	Qualifying final	16	10	6	0	382	358	24	6	54	Willie le Roux	6	Burton Francis	62
	2014	14th	–	16	4	11	1	372	527	–155	6	24	Cornal Hendricks	6	Johan Goosen	143
	2015	13th	–	16	4	12	0	247	434	–187	6	22	Boom Prinsloo	8	Joe Pietersen	92
	2016	14th	–	15	4	11	0	377	425	–48	5	21	Sergeal Petersen	9	Fred Zeilinga	79
	2017	13th	—	15	4	11	0	395	551	–156	5	21	Raymond Rhule	6	Fred Zeilinga	108
Pro14	2017–18	3rd	Quarter-finals	21	12	9	0	609	554	55	15	63	Makazole Mapimpi	10	Fred Zeilinga	86
	2018–19	6th	—	21	8	12	1	541	606	–61	12	46	Rabz Maxwane	14	Tian Schoeman	134
	2019–20	4th	—	13	6	7	0	342	280	+62	7	32	Rhyno Smith	10	Ruan Pienaar	73
Super Rugby Unlocked	2020	4th	—	6	3	2	1	126	106	20	3	17	Rosko Specman	4	Tian Schoeman	36
Preparation Series	2021	2nd Pool A	—	4	3	1	0	159	105	54	2	14	2 players	3	François Steyn	31

• Bold indicates current team player

Current squad

The following players have been named in the Cheetahs squad for the 2025–26 EPCR Challenge Cup:

The following players have been included so far in Cheetahs squad for the 2026 SA Cup:

Cheetahs SA Cup squad
Props Aranos Coetzee Frankie Dos Reis Matome Manyama Tielman Nieuwoudt Tebogo Nkosi John Kelly Okonkwo Ben Pitout Hookers Marko Janse van Rensburg Juan Smal Louis van der Westhuizen (c) Locks Pieter Jansen van Vuren Victor Sekekete Curtly Thomas Pierre-Raymond Uys Juan Venter Carl Wegner	Loose forwards Daniel Maartens Thabang Mahlasi Mihlali Mosi Sasko Ndlovu Ramon Uys Arno van der Merwe Gideon van der Merwe Neels Volschenk Sisonke Vumazonke Scrum-halves Marco Jansen van Vuren Rewan Kruger Jandré Nel Christiaan van der Westhuizen Erick Visser Fly-halves George Lourens Tiaan Swanepoel Jaco van der Walt Ethan Wentzel	Centres De-An Ackermann Carel-Jan Coetzee Zander du Plessis Jooste Nel Franco Smith Wingers Banie Britz Munier Hartzenberg Ntokozo Makhaza Prince Nkabinde Litha Nkula James Verity-Amm Fullbacks Michael Annies Clayton Blommetjies Cohen Jasper Shaun Ray
(c) Denotes team captain and Bold denotes internationally capped.

Coaches

• Rassie Erasmus (2006–2007)
• Naka Drotské (2008–2015)
• Franco Smith (2016–2017)
• Rory Duncan (2017–2018)
• Franco Smith (2018–2019)
• Hawies Fourie (2019–2024)
• Izak van der Westhuizen (2024–2025)
• François Steyn (2025–present)

Captains

• Juan Smith (2006–2011)
• Adriaan Strauss (2012–2014)
• Francois Uys (2015)
• Francois Venter (2016–2018)
• Oupa Mohojé (2018)
• Tian Meyer (2018–2019)
• Ruan Pienaar (2020–2022)
• Victor Sekekete (2022–present)

Former players

For a list of former and current players who have represented the Cheetahs in Super Rugby, Pro14 and European competitions, see List of Cheetahs (rugby union) players.

Springboks

The following players have represented South Africa while representing the Cheetahs:

Name Year Boetie McHardy 1912 Hennie Potgieter 1928 Tiny Francis 1931/32 Jack Gage 1933 Lappies Hattingh 1933 Flip Geel 1949 Piet Wessels 1951/52 Basie Vivier 1956 Harry Walker 1953 Popeye Strydom 1955 Chris de Wilzem 1956 Bennie van Niekerk 1960/61 Gert Cilliers 1963 Nelie Smith 1963 John Wessels 1965 Piet Goosen 1965 Sakkie van Zyl 1965 Louis Slabber 1965

Name Year Piet Greyling 1967 Joggie Jansen 1970 Jackie Snyman 1974 Gerrie Germishuys 1974 Leon Vogel 1974 Jan Schlebusch 1974 Johan de Bruyn 1974 Gerrie Sonnekus 1974 Kleintjie Grobler 1974 Rampie Stander 1974 André Bestbier 1974 Edrich Krantz 1976 De Wet Ras 1976 Theuns Stofberg 1976 Hermanus Potgieter 1977 Dirk Froneman 1977 Barry Wolmarans 1977 Martiens le Roux 1980 Gysie Pienaar 1980

Name Year Eben Jansen 1981 Rudi Visagie 1984 Jaco Reinach 1986 Christo Ferreira 1986 Helgard Müller 1986 André Joubert 1989 Johan Styger 1992 Ruben Kruger 1993 Hentie Martens 1993 Naka Drotské 1993 Ollie le Roux 1994 Brendan Venter 1994 Chris Badenhorst 1994 Os du Randt 1994 André Venter 1996 Werner Swanepoel 1997 Rassie Erasmus 1997 Jannie de Beer 1997 Braam Els 1997

Name Year Willie Meyer 1997 Hendro Scholtz 2002 Friedrich Lombard 2002 CJ van der Linde 2002 Juan Smith 2003 Gerrie Britz 2004 Hanyani Shimange 2004 Michael Claassens 2004 Gurthro Steenkamp 2004 Meyer Bosman 2005 Bevin Fortuin 2006 Kabamba Floors 2006 Jannie du Plessis 2007 Barend Pieterse 2007 Adriaan Strauss 2008 Jongi Nokwe 2008 Heinrich Brüssow 2008 Wian du Preez 2009 Coenie Oosthuizen 2010

Name Year Ashley Johnson 2010 Johan Goosen 2012 Raymond Rhule 2012 Trevor Nyakane 2013 Piet van Zyl 2013 Cornal Hendricks 2014 Lood de Jager 2014 Oupa Mohoje 2014 Francois Venter 2016 Uzair Cassiem 2016 Ox Nché 2018 Rosko Specman 2021

Records

Pro14 records

The Cheetahs' Pro14 records are as follows (updated 11 February 2018):

Team Match Records
Record	Opposition	Venue	Season
Biggest win:	Southern Kings	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	2017–18	24
Heaviest defeat:	Munster	Thomond Park, Limerick	2017–18	33
Highest score:	Zebre	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	54
Most points conceded:	Munster	Thomond Park, Limerick	2017–18	51
Most tries:	Zebre	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	8
Most tries conceded:	Munster	Thomond Park, Limerick	2017–18	8

Player Match Records
Record	Player	Opposition	Venue	Season
Most points by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	Leinster	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	18
Most tries by a player:	Nico Lee	Southern Kings	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	2017–18	3
Most conversions by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	Zebre	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	7
Most penalties by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	Leinster	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	4
	Ernst Stapelberg	Glasgow Warriors	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2017–18	4
Most drop goals by a player:	No drop goals yet

Team Season Records
Record	Matches	Season
Most team points:	in 14 matches	2017–18	430
Most team tries:	in 14 matches	2017–18	53

Player Season Records
Record	Player	Season
Most points by a player:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	79
Most tries by a player:	Makazole Mapimpi	2017–18	10
Most conversions by a player:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	21
Most penalties by a player:	Ernst Stapelberg	2017–18	14
Most drop goals by a player:	No drop goals yet

Player Career Records
Record	Player	Seasons
Most appearances:	Rynier Bernardo	2017–18	14
	Aranos Coetzee	2017–18	14
	Charles Marais	2017–18	14
	Ox Nché	2017–18	14
	Shaun Venter	2017–18	14
Most points:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	79
Most tries:	Makazole Mapimpi	2017–18	10
Most conversions:	Fred Zeilinga	2017–18	21
Most penalties:	Ernst Stapelberg	2017–18	14
Most drop goals:	No drop goals yet

Super Rugby records

The Cheetahs' Super Rugby records are as follows:

Team Match Records
Record	Opposition	Venue	Season
Biggest win:	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	75
Heaviest defeat:	Hurricanes	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	2017	54
Highest score:	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	92
Most points conceded:	Brumbies	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	2010	61
	Hurricanes	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	2010	61
Most tries:	Sunwolves	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein	2016	14
Most tries conceded:	Brumbies	Canberra Stadium, Canberra	2010	9
	Hurricanes	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	2010	9

Team Season Records
Record	Matches	Season
Most team points:	in 16 matches	2011	435
Most team tries:	in 15 matches	2016	47

Player Season Records
Record	Player	Season
Most points by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	179
Most tries by a player:	Sergeal Petersen	2016	9
	Sarel Pretorius	2011	9
Most conversions by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	32
Most penalties by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	33
Most drop goals by a player:	Sias Ebersohn	2011	2
	Naas Olivier	2010	2
	Joe Pietersen	2015	2
	Riaan Viljoen	2011	2

Player Career Records
Record	Player	Seasons
Most appearances:	Adriaan Strauss	2007–2014	97
Most points:	Johan Goosen	2012–2014	331
Most tries:	Sarel Pretorius	2009–2015	24
Most conversions:	Johan Goosen	2012–2014	46
Most penalties:	Johan Goosen	2012–2014	70
Most drop goals:	Sias Ebersohn	2010–2011	2
	Naas Olivier	2009–2010	2
	Joe Pietersen	2015	2
	Riaan Viljoen	2010–2011	2

See also

• Rugby union in South Africa

External links

• Official website