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Griquas worry over Super-Sarel

Hendrik Cronjé

Bloemfontein - The chances appear slim that scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius and flyhalf Earl Rose will start Griquas' first Currie Cup game of the year.

Pretorius on Monday exacerbated the knee injury that prevented him from playing a friendly match against Border in East London on Friday night. He went for a scan and a decision about his availability will probably be made on Tuesday.

Griquas coach Abré Minnie is planning on announcing his side on Tuesday. There is also still uncertainty about the availability of wing Fabian Juries and flank Davon Raubenheimer.

Juries injured his knee against Border and Raubenheimer left the field with a sore ankle before half-time.

"I don't think Fabian and Davon's injuries are too serious and believe they will recover in time for Saturday's game against Western Province, but I'm worried about Sarel," said Minnie.

The coach confirmed that Sharks Academy scrumhalf Shannon Rick had passed the test with his performance against Border. Rick was initially only on a week's trial at Griquas, but will now be available for them for the rest of the Currie Cup.

Rick is likely to keep his place at scrumhalf for the Newlands clash if Pretorius is not fit.

Minnie said that Rose could not train with the team last week. His replacement, Monty Dumond, grabbed his chance at flyhalf against Border and Rudi Vogt performed well at fullback.

That means Rose may not be in the starting line-up. Minnie admits that he has a tough call to make at flyhalf.

"But we are in favour of healthy competition for places in the starting line-up, as well as a positive attitude."

He added that Griquas would pay a lot of attention to holding onto possession ahead of the match against WP.

"I'm satisfied with our performance in East London, especially when one considers that we could only train three times before the game. To be able to score a 50-pointer there after a long bus ride was a bonus and a positive start.

"However, after watching a video of the game, we realised that we had conceded possession far too often. We will pay attention to that on the training field and also talk about playing with greater patience."
 
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