Cheetahs to face Stormers and Sharks for prize money

NEWS: The Cheetahs will face a couple of fellow South African franchises and some European sides in a series of matches in November.

The Bloemfontein side has challenged the Stormers and the Sharks to compete for R250 000 worth of prize money at the Free State Stadium.

On top of these two challenge matches, the Cheetah have also challenged two European rugby clubs in the form of Spain’s Diables Barcelona and Romania’s CSM Stiinta Baia Mare.

These teams have never before been seen in South Africa and will bring some Catalonian flair and Romanian power to the series of matches.

Each of the matches will boast prize money of R250 000 for the winning team, but on top of that, more cash is up for grabs for individual players and fans during the Challenge series.

Players will be rewarded for "positive play actions" during the games, while fans will be rewarded for supporting their favorite teams in the stadium and online on various social media platforms.

"Apart from dishing up running rugby against the old foes in the Stormers and the Sharks, the Cheetahs are excited to have two brand-new rugby friends Diables Barcelona and CSM Stiinta Baia Mare in Toyota Stadium," said Free State Cheetahs Managing Director Harold Verster

"We are particularly delighted that the Cheetahs, will have the opportunity to show their mettle.

"This new rugby product promises to be very enticing and entertaining for the fans.

"Talking about fans, we are delighted that our supporters will be allowed in the stadium again, albeit limited to 2 000 at this stage. I would also like to thank Howard Thomas Rugby MD of Redstrike and his team for their assistance in pulling this together, with whom we are working on a number of exciting initiatives."

Jurie Roux, Chief Executive Officer of SA Rugby, added: "This is very exciting for all the teams involved and I'm sure we'll see some open running rugby in Bloemfontein next month.

"It's also great to see new sides in action, from Spain and Romania, two nations where the game is really growing, and their involvement will add something extra to the Toyota Challenge."

Challenge fixtures (All times local):

Saturday, November 13: Cheetahs v Stormers – 17.30

Wednesday: November 17: Cheetahs v Barcelona (Spain) – 17.30

Saturday, November 20: Cheetahs v Sharks – 14h00

Friday, November 26: Cheetahs v Baia Mare Rugby (Romania) – 17.30

While in South Africa, Diables Barcelona will also face off against the Kenyan National team and CSM Stiinta Baia Mare will face a Free State XV team as part of the Intercontinental Invitational Series of friendly matches.

Intercontinental Invitational Series fixtures:

Saturday, November 20: CSM Stiinta Baia Mare v Free State XV team – kick-off time to be confirmed

Thursday, November 25: Diables Barcelona vs. Kenya – 17.30