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Cape Town - Griquas coach Pote Human has named his team to take on the Blue Bulls in their Currie Cup opener in Pretoria on Friday night.
Hooker Ryno Barnes will skipper the side at Loftus Versfeld.
Flanker Justin Downey and fullback Willie le Roux - who impressed for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby - are two notable inclusions in the starting team.
Two former Bulls players, centres JP Nel and Stefan Watermeyer, will also line up against their former team.
Griquas will be eager to get their campaign off to a solid start in the new six-team Premier Division format.
The last time these two teams met in the Currie Cup Griquas upset the Bulls 48-44 in Kimberley at the tail end of last season - a loss which eventually cost the men from Pretoria a spot in the semi-finals.
Griquas finished sixth in the eight-team Premier Division last season, while the Bulls were four log points above them in fifth.
With the top division only featuring six teams this year, the event is sure to test the depth of the men from Kimberley as they find themselves as the only of the so-called "smaller" unions playing in the top flight, which might see wins hard to come by.
However, they thoroughly deserve their top-flight status, as since the advent of professionalism in 1996 they have been by far the most consistent of the smaller unions in the Currie Cup.
This year sees the first time since 1995 that the Currie Cup reverts back to the old six-team strength versus strength format.
Kick-off at Loftus is at 19:10.
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Clayton Blommetjies, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Jan Serfontein.
Griquas: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Luzuko Vulindlu 13 JP Nel 12 Stefan Watermeyer 11 Rocco Jansen 10 Francois Brummer 9 Jacques Coetzee 8 Leon Karemaker 7 Jonathan Adendorf 6 Justin Downey 5 Martin Muller 4 Ligtoring Landman 3 Lourens Adriaanse 2 Ryno Barnes (captain) 1 Steph Roberts
Substitutes: 16 Matthew Dobson 17 Janro van Niekerk 18 Frikkie Spies 19 Jaco Nepgen 20 Marnus Hugo 21 Marnitz Boshoff 22 Wilmaure Louw
Hooker Ryno Barnes will skipper the side at Loftus Versfeld.
Flanker Justin Downey and fullback Willie le Roux - who impressed for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby - are two notable inclusions in the starting team.
Two former Bulls players, centres JP Nel and Stefan Watermeyer, will also line up against their former team.
Griquas will be eager to get their campaign off to a solid start in the new six-team Premier Division format.
The last time these two teams met in the Currie Cup Griquas upset the Bulls 48-44 in Kimberley at the tail end of last season - a loss which eventually cost the men from Pretoria a spot in the semi-finals.
Griquas finished sixth in the eight-team Premier Division last season, while the Bulls were four log points above them in fifth.
With the top division only featuring six teams this year, the event is sure to test the depth of the men from Kimberley as they find themselves as the only of the so-called "smaller" unions playing in the top flight, which might see wins hard to come by.
However, they thoroughly deserve their top-flight status, as since the advent of professionalism in 1996 they have been by far the most consistent of the smaller unions in the Currie Cup.
This year sees the first time since 1995 that the Currie Cup reverts back to the old six-team strength versus strength format.
Kick-off at Loftus is at 19:10.
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Clayton Blommetjies, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Ruan Snyman, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Dawie Steyn.
Substitutes: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 CJ Stander, 20 Lohan Jacobs, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Jan Serfontein.
Griquas: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Luzuko Vulindlu 13 JP Nel 12 Stefan Watermeyer 11 Rocco Jansen 10 Francois Brummer 9 Jacques Coetzee 8 Leon Karemaker 7 Jonathan Adendorf 6 Justin Downey 5 Martin Muller 4 Ligtoring Landman 3 Lourens Adriaanse 2 Ryno Barnes (captain) 1 Steph Roberts
Substitutes: 16 Matthew Dobson 17 Janro van Niekerk 18 Frikkie Spies 19 Jaco Nepgen 20 Marnus Hugo 21 Marnitz Boshoff 22 Wilmaure Louw
