Cheetahs backline coach Hawies Fourie knows that despite his team's advantage of playing at home with four returning Springboks, Western Province will not roll over very easily in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Many are tipping the relatively inexperienced Western Province outfit to battle this weekend against a Cheetahs team who have the added benefit of having played the bulk of the Super Rugby season together, but Fourie is well aware that the Cape side is full of many bright young talents.

"Western Province have played really well thus far in the competition, they have got a young team but they are playing with a lot of guts. They have got a good side - all those players played really well for their Under-21 side last year when they won the U21 competition so there are a lot of quality players in that side," he told this website.

However, Fourie is excited about the extra grunt that the home side's forward pack will have this weekend, and explained that it should give their backline a chance to shine as well.

He said: "It will definitely make a big difference having guys like Coenie [Oosthuizen], Adriaan [Strauss] and Ashley [Johnson] who were some of our better ball carriers in the Super Rugby competition.

"We look forward to having them back and we expect them to give us a lot of momentum, and I think that will help the backline as well as they should get some ball on the front foot," added Fourie.

Another key player returning for the Cheetahs this weekend is outside centre Robert Ebersohn, and although he may not be a Bok (yet), he is sure to make an impact in his limited time on the pitch on Saturday.

"Robert Ebersohn has been out for about six or seven weeks now with an ankle injury, I don't think he will be able to play the whole game but at least we will have him back for about 40 or 50 minutes," said Fourie.

The Cheetahs have not yet managed to put together an 80 minute performace in the Currie Cup this year and Fourie is adamant that the Bloemfontein side cannot afford to blow hot and cold again.

"If we want to beat Western Province then it will be key to play well in both halves, we can't afford to play another game like last week or like the game against the Bulls. The players know it and we expect them to pitch up for both halves on the weekend," said the Cheetahs assistant coach.

Fourie believes that it will be vital for his team to hold on to the ball and force Western Province to tackle as much as possible, as they have been at their best this season when they have built some decent momentum.

"We will try and keep the ball through more phases - last week against the Sharks we scored three of our four tries by keeping the ball through more than five phases, and that is something that we lacked against the Bulls and the Leopards in both of the second halves of those games," he explained.

By Michael de Vries