Griquas tweak for trip to Loftus
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Griquas were forced into making a few changes ahead of their trip to Pretoria for a Currie Cup semifinal encounter with the Bulls.
Injuries to Stormers-bound scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer and veteran Simon Westraadt are at the heart of the changes.
Both players took heavy head knocks in the come-from-behind win over the Pumas in Nelspruit last week.
Neither have passed their Head Injury Assessment protocols and will not be considered for selection this week.
Johan Mulder, who played off the bench last week, will start at No.9 in place of Ungerer, 28 – who has signed with the Stormers for next season and will make a permanent move to Cape Town after the current season.
Janco Uys, who also played off the bench, will start at hooker in place of Westraadt, 36, who has most likely also played his last match of the season.
The good news is that utility back Zander du Plessis is back after missing last week’s encounter due to a concussion.
Du Plessis, one of the form players for the Kimberley out, return at flyhalf in place of veteran George Whitehead, who drops down to the replacements bench.
Apart from Westraadt and Ungerer, other players missing the trip to Loftus Versfeld through injury include Mzwanele Zito, Andrew Beerwinkel, Ruan Steenkamp, Prince Nkabinde, Jan-Louis la Grange, Justin Forwood and Carl Els.
Griquas: 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Munier Hartzenberg, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Rynhardt Jonker, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Zander du Plessis, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Sibabalo Qoma, 7 Hanru Sirgel, 6 Niel Otto (captain), 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Johan Retief, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Kudzwai Dube.
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Cameron Lindsay, 20 Werner Gouws, 21 Fiela Boshoff, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Christopher Hollis
Traveling, non-playing replacements: 24 Andrew Kuhn, 25 Luyolo Dapula, 26 Reagan Oranje.
Date: Friday, June 17
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19.00 (17.00 GMT)
Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Phumzile Mbewu
TMO: Ben Crouse
