Cheetahs match with Ulster moved due to weather

The Toyota Cheetahs arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday for Round 3 of the EPCR Challenge Cup against Ulster Rugby.

This match will be the fourth encounter between the two teams as they met previously in PRO14 (CHE 19-42 ULS, 01/09/2017 in Belfast; CHE 39-39 ULS, 21/09/2018 in Bloemfontein and CHE 62-26 ULS, 05/10/2019 in Bloemfontein).

The action at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam, home ground of the Toyota Cheetahs in Europe, kicks off at 5.15pm on Sunday. The game will be live on SuperSport and on EPCR TV outside South Africa.

One of the EPCR's conditions for the Toyota Cheetahs' participation in the EPCR Challenge Cup is that the team is based in Europe and will therefore play the Round 2 and 3 home games at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam.

Free State Rugby is grateful to Rugby Nederland for sharing their home ground with another team in orange.

Coach Frans Steyn said: "Ulster's pressure game is excellent. They are playing brilliant rugby at the moment.

"We have a massive opportunity to show what we can do and do better than on the first tour. All the teams in this pool are great. Exter is third in the Prem, Stade Francais is third in the Top 14 and Ulster is third in the URC log. In the previous two games, I felt we had great moments but ended up getting ourselves into trouble with our mistakes. If we can sort that out, we can do well. We have good players and a great squad. We can't wait for things to happen; we have to make it happen ourselves."

"We have to have an 80-minute performance. Opposition capitalised on moments where we lapsed or lost focus and it makes it difficult when you don't play 80 minutes," said captain Louis (Chucky) van der Westhuizen.

The Toyota Cheetahs' next match is against Racing 92 on Sunday, 18 January at Paris La Défencse Arena in Paris.

Fans are already eyeing the EPCR Finals Weekend in Bilbao, on 22 and 23 May 2026 - the biggest weekend in international club rugby.

Demand has been extraordinary, with over 50% of tickets sold for both the EPCR Challenge Cup and the Investec Challenge Cup before the new season even kicked off.

Bilbao is the ideal backdrop for an EPCR Finals Weekend, and supporters are encouraged to act quickly to avoid missing out.

Steyn announced his team with a couple of changes from Round 2: Dux Manyama will start, with Cameron Dawson providing cover on the bench. Sisonke Vumazonke replaces the injured Pierre Uys (face fracture) and Jaco van der Walt returns as flyhalf after a hamstring injury. The centres are Zander du Plessis and De-an Ackermann while Munier Hartzenberg will be wearing the No 14 jersey with James Verity-Amm on fullback.

The referee for the match is Kevin Bralley. He will be assisted by Vincent Blasco Baque and Flavien Hourquet. The TMO is Julien Castaignede.

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The Municipality of Amsterdam has declared all municipal sports pitches unplayable until further notice due to the adverse weather conditions experienced during the week.

As a result, the Round 3 EPCR Challenge Cup fixture between Toyota Cheetahs v Ulster Rugby will no longer be able to take place at the NRCA Stadium on Sunday.

Working closely together, Rugby Nederland, Toyota Cheetahs and EPCR have identified an alternative venue at Dukes Rugby, 's-Hertogenbosch. The fixture will now take place at Dukes Rugby on Sunday, kicking off at 2pm local time.

The match will be broadcast on EPCRugby.TV, Supersport and FloRugby.

Due to the late change in venue, Rugby Nederland and Dukes Rugby are unable to make the necessary arrangements for the public to attend and unfortunately, therefore, no facilities can be made availible to fans. All ticket purchasers will be entitled to a full refund, minus the admin fee. An email will be sent to all ticketholders regarding refunds.

EPCR, Rugby Nederland and Toyota Cheetahs are continuing to monitor weather conditions, should these further impact the fixture.

EPCR understands all fans travelling to the match will be disappointed at this decision; however, player and match officials' safety must prevail.

EPCR would like to thank Rugby Nederland, Toyota Cheetahs and Ulster Rugby for their support in ensuring the fixture will be played.

Toyota Cheetahs starting XV: 15 James Verity-Amm, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 De-an Ackermann, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Prince Nkabinde; 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Marco Jansen van Vuren; 8 Gideon van der Merwe, 7 Sisonke Vumazonke, 6 Daniel Maartens; 5 Curtley Thomas, 4 Carl Wegner; 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen (capt), 1 Dux Manyama. Replacements: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Frankie Dos Reis, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Arno van der Merwe, 21 Neels Volschenk, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 Michael Annies.