Cheetahs v Griquas - Teams and Prediction
FRIDAY PREVIEW: The Cheetahs versus Griquas match in Bloemfontein is arguably the match of the round, featuring the first and third-placed teams.
Success for the Cheetahs would almost certainly secure them a home semifinal.
For Griquas, a victory would catapult them into contention for a top two finish and a coveted home play-off.
Both teams are in excellent form, and this clash is expected to be a tight, high-stakes affair.
The two rivals have each won four of their last games, while they are also neck-and-neck in the five previous meetings between them.
Each have won twice in this fixture, with Griquas victorious in their last meeting in this competition, played last August, by 44-31 after their 29-29 draw in May 2023.
Cheetahs head coach Frans Steyn has made four changes to his starting line-up, with Cameron Dawson and Hencus van Wyk switching places in the front row.
John-Kelly Okonkwo will be making his debut for the Cheetahs with Frankie Dos Reis on the replacements bench.
Carel-Jan Coetzee moves to No.12 with Marco Janse van Vuren in the No.13 jersey. Ali Mgijima will provide cover on the bench.
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“It’s always been a massive game even when I was at the Griquas,” said Cheetahs assistant coach and former hooker Tiaan Liebenberg.
“It was always a tough match to play the Cheetahs, either in Kimberley or in Bloem.
“They [Griquas] are definitely the in-form team at the moment.
“They play an unbelievable brand of rugby, but come Friday afternoon, we’ve got a challenge and we need to man up to that.”
The Cheetahs know that Griquas’ pack will be a huge threat at the Free State Stadium.
“They have been together for a while, which makes a massive difference, and they are playing very direct at the moment,” Liebenberg added.
“It shows confidence, in my opinion.
“If you look at last weekend, they are a dominant pack. They play well together, they are well-coached, when they get onto the pitch, you can see they are ready to go and they want to play.”
Meanwhile, Griquas head coach Pieter Bergh has made minimal changes to his team for Friday’s showdown.
Gustav Erlank comes in and takes over the No.8 jersey from Carl Els, who moves to the No.7 flank. Marco de Witt moves to the bench.
In the second row, Malembe Mpofu replaces Derik Pretorius, who also drops down to the bench.
It will be a very short turnaround for Griquas after they recorded a 42-21 win over the Bulls in Pretoria last Sunday.
The side travelled back to Kimberley by bus and they only arrived home in the early hours of Monday morning.
To help with the recovery ahead of Friday’s match, Bergh emptied his bench between the 47th and 59th minutes against the Bulls.
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“It was important for us to get some players off the field early,” said Bergh after the win.
“We replaced eight of our best players with 30 minutes to go, which is a good thing with the short turnaround.
“We lost some momentum, despite still dominating territory. We made a lot of errors, and that just comes down to the number of changes made.
“Overall, five points in the bag away from home is something we’ll take gladly.”
Prediction
@rugby365com: Cheetahs by four points.
Teams:
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Prince Nkabinde, 13 Marco Janse van Vuren, 12 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 11 Cohen Jasper, 10 Franco Smith, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Neels Volschenk, 9 Mihlali Mosi, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Juan Venter, 3 John-Kelly Okonkwo, 2 Marko Jansen van Rensburg, 1 Hencus van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Cameron Dawson, 18 Frankie Dos Reis, 19 Pierre-Raymond Uys, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Jandré Nel, 22 Ali Mgijima, 23 Michael Annies.
Griquas: 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Mnombi Zwelenedaba, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Caleb Abrahams, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Carl Els, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 2 Cebo Dlamini (captain), 2 Janco Uys, 1 Eddie Davids.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Marco de Witt, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Tom Nel, Connor Mahoney.
Date: Friday, August 29
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00)
Referee: Christopher Allison
Assistant referees: Hanru van Rooyen, Hernus Coetzee
TMO: Egon Seconds
