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US Eagles scrumhalf Ruben de Haas is set to make his Super Rugby debut this weekend. The 22-year-old has been named among the Cheetahs reserves to face the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
de Haas joins a select group of players who have featured in Super Rugby as capped USA internationals. Todd Clever was the first, coincidentally with the Lions in 2009. More recently Andrew Durutalo played for the Sunwolves, Marcel Brache with the Western Force, and Tony Lamborn with the Blues.
It will be a special occasion for de Haas in what has been a difficult year. He was meant to make his Guinness Pro 14 debut in March but the COVID-19 cancellation delayed his top-level debut for the outfit, having previously started six games during the 2019 SuperSport Challenge.
The future of the Cheetahs remains in question. With the Guinness Pro Championship set to adopt the Bulls, Lions, Sharks, and Stormers, the Cheetahs have been left without a professional competition outside of the Currie Cup. de Haas signed a contract extension through to October 2021 in May.
Ironically it’s the beleaguered Free State side that currently sits at the top of the Super Rugby unlocked table with two wins from two and nine competition points. The Lions are at the bottom of the seven-team competition with two losses and two points.
CHEETAHS
1 Charles Marais, 2 Reinach Venter, 3 Luan de Bruin, 4 Carl Wegner, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Junior Pokomela (capt.), 8 Jasper Wiese, 9 Tian Meyer, 10 Tian Schoeman, 11 Rosko Specman, 12 Frans Steyn, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 15 Clayton Blommetjies
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Chris Massyn, 22 Ruben de Haas, 23 William Small-Smith
