The PRO12 announced the new structure for the championship for the upcoming season with the addition of two teams for South Africa, the Toyota Cheetahs (Bloemfontein) and the Southern Kings (Port Elizabeth).
We heartily welcome the new teams from the Southern Hemisphere and look forward to an exciting new era in Western Hemisphere rugby.
Here a few facts about the Cheetahs and Bloemfontein that might be of interest:
Cheetahs
- Bloemfontein is Dutch for “fountain of flowers”
- Bloemfontein is the Judicial capital of South Africa
- Bloemfontein experiences a semi-arid climate with average high of 30C+ in Dec and Jan on the High Veld (1400m above sea level)
- Cheetahs only winning season in Super Rugby was in 2013 when they finished 6th.
- Former Cheetahs players include, Juan Smith, Adriaan Strauss, Os du Randt and Brendan Venter
- J.R.R Tolkien was born in Bloemfontain
Quirky fact