Former Sharks player Fred Zeilinga will start at flyhalf for the Free State Cheetahs in Saturday’s Currie Cup clash against Western Province in Cape Town.

Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has made a number of changes to his team after last weekend’s 57-19 loss to the Vodacom Blue Bulls, with Zeilinga replacing Neil Marais in a backline that also sees AJ Coertzen take over from Coenie van Wyk at fullback.

Up front, Neil Jordaan comes in for Gerhard Olivier at No 8, while Armandt Koster and Jacques du Toit replace Willem Serfontein and Niel Raubenheimer at lock and hooker respectively.

Elandré Hugget, Tertius Kruger and Sias Ebersohn are newcomers on the bench.

Free State Cheetahs – 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Neil Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Boom Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys (c), 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Subs: 16 Elandré Huggett, 17 Maks van Dyk, 18 Reniel Hugo, 19 Gerhard Olivier, 20 Zee Mkabela, 21 Tertius Kruger, 22 Sias Ebersohn.

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images