- Should the Cheetahs progress to the playoffs of the Challenge Cup on Sunday, it would represent the greatest underdog act in a painful three years for the franchise.
- Despite the honour of playing in the tournament, the financial and logistical impact has been severe, with the side required to play their home games in Italy.
- But despite all the odds stacked against them, the Cheetahs are gunning to prove their resilience yet again.
If the Cheetahs manage a "home" victory over Pau in Parma on Sunday evening to secure their passage to the playoffs of the European Challenge Cup, it would arguably represent the biggest underdog act pulled off by the central franchise in what's been three years bordering on rugby hell.
Since losing their place in the PRO14 in 2020 to make way for the Super Rugby franchises' entry into the URC, the Free Staters have faced many hurdles, ranging from a player exodus to a significant decrease in revenue streams because of their absence from an international competition.
It's little wonder this weekend's do-or-die clash feels like a proverbial date with destiny.
The Cheetahs surprised all and sundry with an excellent 21-16 opening victory against their French opponents back in December and produced an effort of rare guts and determination - without star veterans Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar - to fall agonisingly short in last week's 17-20 loss to the Scarlets.
"A win would really be treasured by all of us. It would be massive," said head coach Hawies Fourie.
"It was our objective from the outset to reach the playoff stages, even though we knew it was going to be difficult. We want to reach the top 16 because we want to help our union and franchise to make tangible progress again.
"We've been in a difficult position the last three years and this is an opportunity to show that we can and want to play international rugby. We're good enough to play at this level. We want to show that we belong."
Last year's announcement that the Cheetahs would be included in the continental tournament was met with huge cheers from the dedicated staff at the Free State Stadium, but reality soon set in.
Because they've been granted an invitation to the tournament by European Professional Club Rugby - the governing body of the Champions and Challenge Cups - the Cheetahs had to forgo home advantage by playing all their home fixtures in Italy.
First and foremost, spending four weeks overseas - two away games, two "home" ones - has had a significant budgetary impact.
Ross van Reenen, the Cheetahs' CEO, told Rapport that the adventure - if it can be called that - has cost the franchise R2.9 million, which includes visa fees, facility hire from Italian URC side Zebre, meals and laundry.
Rugby-wise, there have been challenges too.
"We play our home games away in Parma, nothing in Bloemfontein. Meanwhile, the other SA sides have home fixtures in South Africa as well as the other participants. It makes a huge difference," said Fourie.
"There's been a lot written about the tough travel schedule for local sides, how long the duration of flights are and we've been in the same boat. It's not easy. We had the further challenge of not having a period in December to keep the momentum going while the rest of the URC teams kept playing. That's a big advantage.
"That actually made the showing against the Scarlets even more laudable because we hadn't played for weeks."
Cheehahs
15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Dan Kasense, 13 David Brits, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Munier Hartzenberg, 10 Siya Masuku, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Substitutes: 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Roelof Smit, 21 Branden de Kock, 22 Evardi Boshoff, 23 Andell Loubser
Pau
15 Theo Attissogbe, 14 Clement Laporte, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Nathan Decron, 11 Daniel Ikpefan, 10 Thibault Debaes, 9 Clovis Lebail, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Martin Puech, 6 Saca Zegueur, 5 Mickael Capelli, 4 Guillaume Ducat, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Romain Ruffenach, 1 Igancio Calles
Substitutes: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Remi Seneca, 18 Guram Papidze, 19 Lekima Tagitagivula, 20 Thibaut Hamonou, 21 Reece Hewat, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Tumuna Manu
Fourie noted that his troops had tried to make a connection with their adopted home city, but various factors rendered such efforts futile.
"It's a very artificial situation. The language barrier is significant, and we have no one in our team that's fluent in Italian, so we can't really engage with locals," he said.
"We're also here at a time of the year where there's not much to do around us. It's freezing and rains regularly, so you have to stay indoors most of the time anyway. Our playing surface has been covered this week, so we didn't have an opportunity to even have a captain's run on it.
"You definitely feel a bit like an impostor, but we're making the best of a difficult situation. We have a decent training field, and we've had a nice period of preparation. But it's disappointing that we can't engage with the Italian people.
"It's definitely not home, but we're really trying to stay positive."
Given the resilience they've shown in the past, one can believe them in that sentiment.
Kick-off is at 17:15.