With three games remaining of the regular Guinness PRO14 campaign, Danny Wilson’s side could draw level on points with their opponents in Conference A.
Meanwhile, Ospreys and Connacht face off at the Liberty Stadium tonight, and both sides will look to put pressure on Wales’ Capital Region, who currently occupy the final automatic Champions Cup qualifying spot.
Cardiff Blues head into the game on the back of eight consecutive victories in PRO14 and Europe, while Cheetahs have secured back-to-back victories against Connacht and Dragons in recent weeks.
It was the Welsh side that came out on top when the sides met back in February, with tries from Nick Williams, Ellis Jenkins and Rey Lee-Lo enough to secure the four points at Cardiff Arms Park.
Gareth Anscombe will captain the visitors, as the Blues make 11 changes from the side that defeated Edinburgh in last week’s Challenge Cup quarter final.
Alex Cuthbert makes a long-awaited return from injury to take his place on the wing, while Josh Navidi, named man-of-the-match at BT Murrayfield last week, moves to number eight, and is joined by Olly Robinson and Macauley Cook in the back row.
The hosts are led by centre Francois Venter, while Scarlets-bound Springbok, Uzier Cassiem, is named at number eight.
Lock Reniel Hugo is the Championship’s leading line-out jumper, and Clayton Blommetjies could be the danger man at full back, having made an impressive 861 meters over the course of the campaign.
What They Said
Danny Wilson believes his side must look to use the momentum from their recent run of form, as they face a tough challenge at Toyota Stadium.
“Definitely confidence is high. 10 wins out of 12 will make it high, will keep it high and hopefully we can keep the run going,” said Wilson.
“We definitely need another win, if not more, to try to cement Champions Cup qualification, which has to be the goal, and we’re on track to achieve.
“We’ll go out to South Africa in a good place, we’re confident but we’ll also be aware of the big challenge ahead of us.
“To ride on our confidence into this block of games is important, and we’ve started well with wins over Ulster and Edinburgh.
“We’ll keep taking it game-by-game, because I don’t think you can plan much further ahead than that.
“But you certainly have to keep one eye on the fact that there is a semi final around the corner, after two games in South Africa. You have to manage your squad for that type of challenge.
“It’s got to be balance with the headache, albeit a nice headache, of thinking about the semi final as well.
“If we can go one step better, and make it an European final or even better and win it, then fantastic, but we won’t be getting too far ahead of ourselves and at the moment we’ll enjoy what we’re doing.”
“To ride on our confidence into this block of games is important, and we’ve started well with wins over Ulster and Edinburgh.” Danny Wilson looks ahead to challenging back-to-back PRO14 games in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/s1WEV3zw9z
– Cardiff Blues (@cardiff_blues) April 5, 2018
Ellis Jenkins is looking forward to a new and exciting challenge, as Cardiff Blues prepare for their first Guinness PRO14 trip to South Africa.
“It will be good to spend some time together in a different country. It will be nice to get out there and get some sun as well,” said Jenkins.
“We haven’t been away like that for a while and to go away for 10 days as a squad will be different for a lot of us, and we’re looking forward to it.
“Gareth Anscombe has played out there during his time in Super Rugby and he said the climate really takes you by surprise. It’s going to be tough, especially as they’re used to playing there, but we’ll try to play the rugby we’ve played over the last few weeks and see what we can do.
“We’ll probably need Munster to do us a favour against Cheetahs next week, but both teams will go into that game looking for a home play-off place as well. If that can happen, it’s up to us first of all to do the job this week and put ourselves in the best position for the play-offs.
“We’ll also have to go out there to enjoy the experience, and during this stage of the season it’s about making sure the players are fresh for the weekend, rather than getting hammered in training.
“We’ll have a fair bit of down time and we’ll look to make the most of being in South Africa.”
After crossing for his fourth try of the season during Saturday’s @ERChallengeCup QF victory over Edinburgh, @EllisJenkins_ looks ahead to a new experience, as Cardiff Blues prepare for back-to-back @PRO14Official fixtures in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/LAknn3VKsw
– Cardiff Blues (@cardiff_blues) April 3, 2018