Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow was named in the Cheetahs squad to play against the British & Irish Lions in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Brüssow was one of a few surprise omissions from the Springboks squad announced on Monday. Other Cheetahs players who featured against a Namibian XV last weekend were Meyer Bosman, Wian du Preez and Adriaan Strauss, but they have all been omitted from the final Springbok squad. "It's unfortunate that they didn't make it, especially for Heinrich - as he is having a great season," Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské told Volksblad. "But it is good for us that they are now in our team.

It was at the Springbok Park cricket ground in 1994 that AJ Venter wore the jersey of a senior South African provincial team for the first time, so there is some irony that it will be just a few hundred metres away at Bloemfontein’s premier rugby ground that he will say goodbye. Although the SA Rugby Annual has Venter listed as a first class player in this country from 1997, which was when he won his first cap for the Cheetahs, Venter first became member of the Free State senior squad three years earlier.