Free State Cheetahs gears up for elite competitions in Europe

The Free State Cheetahs is amongst the top five South African teams confirmed to play in the two European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) competitions from next season, SA Rugby announced today, June 2.

Toyota Cheetahs as they are fondly known, is set for a sensational return to the elite competitions in Europe after being thrown out from the Pro14 in 2020.

In a battle to secure victory in the much-anticipated competitions, the Free State based club will be joined by SA teams namely, the Lions, Vodacom Bulls, Cell C Sharks and the Stormers.

They will all be competing with best clubs from England and France, after already successfully integrating with teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the URC.

“Our five franchise teams will now play in two new territories against opponents we’ve never played before,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

“We’ve already experienced the intensity of the Vodacom URC, and now we’ll also face the top teams from England and France. We would like to thank all relevant stakeholders who have been involved in the negotiation process – the board and staff of EPRC, the Vodacom URC, Premiership Rugby in England and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) in France.

“It has happened earlier than planned, as we started this process more than two years ago after Super Rugby imploded, but this has now become reality, which really is great news for South African rugby,” added Roux.

The formats for next season’s Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup will be announced shortly, in conjunction with details of the Pool Draws for both tournaments which will be staged towards the end of the month.