Griquas bid stalwarts farewell
Griquas will be bidding farewell a number of their stalwarts when they play their final home match of the Currie Cup season.
With an outside chance of still reaching the top six – to avoid a promotion-relegation play-off series – they host the Eastern Province Kings in Kimberley on Saturday.
Griquas will be bidding farewell to Marnus Schoeman, Ryno Barnes, Janro van Niekerk and Nicolaas van Dyk – who have all been included in Hawies Fourie's starting line-up.
Willem Serfontein, who is currently injured, will also leaving Griquas after just one season. He is recovering well from his ACL injury and is hoping to be back on the playing field by April.
The rest of the players are all available for next season and a number of new players will be joining Griquas in November, but for now the focus is to finish with two wins and fight for a top six finish.
Francois Brummer and Hilton Lobberts are injured and were not available for selection this week.
"For us it is very bad to lose Hilton,"coach Hawies Fourie said.
"We are already without Francois Brummer, who is also injured, and to now lose him is a huge loss.
"He was one of our more physical players, especially on defence," Fourie added.
It will be a must-win home game if Griquas are to keep alive any hopes of finishing in the top six in the competition.
The focus is to finish the season with two wins to help secure the team's Currie Cup spot for next year.
"We know it is going to be tough against the Kings as they have yet to get a win and will definitely target us for one. We have to be at our very best," Fourie said.
Griquas: 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Johnathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 Petrus Vermeulen, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Carel Greeff, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Hugo Kloppers, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 Jonathan Adendorf, 19 RJ Liebenberg, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Ederies Arendse, 22 Jacquin Jansen.
Date: Saturday, October 4
Venue: GWK Park Kimberley
Kick-off: 14.30 (12.30 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze
