Four new faces for Griquas
Griquas coach Pote Human has named four débutantes in his side for their first Currie Cup encounter of the season against the Sharks in Durban on Friday evening.
Lock Hilton Lobberts, centre Howard Mnisi, wing Nico Scheepers and fullback Gouws Prinsloo will all make their debut in the peacock-coloured jersey at Kings Park.
"All of the players who joined us from elsewhere have proven themselves over the last couple of weeks," Human said in Kimberley on Tuesday.
"We have played a couple of warm up matches, two of which were against the Lions and Free State Cheetahs. They performed well there and we are looking forward to seeing the impact they make in the squad."
Lobberts joined the Northern Cape side after an unimpressive stint at Western Province, while Mnisi bagged a contract in Kimberley with his aggressive physicality for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in this year's Varsity Cup competition.
Prinsloo joins the side after playing for the Sharks in the Vodacom Cup, while Scheepers switched from the Free State Cheetahs shortly after the Super Rugby competition.
Prinsloo would be under pressure to bolster Griquas in the wing position, left vacant by Willie le Roux who was called up to the Springbok squad for the coming Rugby Championship.
Prop Lourens Adriaanse, another Bok, was included in the Griquas side and would look to give the Springbok selectors something to mull over come scrum time.
The Kimberley-based side lost four of their regular players to other unions. Lock Edwinn Hewitt and flank Justin Downey joined the Sharks while flyhalf Burton Francis moved to France to play club rugby for Agen.
Lock Martin Muller also opted to leave the central region for the Lions.
"We have managed to retain the core of the group which played in the Vodacom Cup," Human said.
"The absences of guys like Justin and Edwinn will be felt, and Willie le Roux's presence at the Springboks means we can't use him for Currie Cup rugby, but we have enough talented players to fill that void.
"The big challenge now is for us to go into the competition and show our intent early on. That will be the goal against the Sharks."
Among the regulars on the replacement bench, the coach included two other débutantes in Carel Greeff and Du Randt Gerber. Greeff would provide depth for the loose forwards while Gerber would cover flyhalf Francois Brummer.
Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 JP Nel, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 PJ Vermeulen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Jacques Coetzee, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Jaco Nepgen, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes (captain), 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Matt Dobson, 17 Nick Schonert, 18 Jonathan Adendorf, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 Du Randt Gerber, 22 Rocco Jansen.
Date: Friday, August 9
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Jason Jaftha
Assistant referees: Rasta Rasivhenge, Reuben Rossouw
TMO: Willie Roos
