Kimberley - Griquas' coach Hawies Fourie has made a number of changes to his forward pack for the Kimberley-based side's Currie Cup encounter against the Eastern Province Kings in the City of Diamonds on Saturday.
Versatile forward Hilton Lobberts, the only player with Test rugby experience in the Peacock Blues outfit and widely regarded as the physical enforcer in the side, will miss the clash because of a knee injury, the second time he has been sidelined by the injury.
"For us it is very bad to lose Hilton. 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 said.
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.
Griquas will say farewell to four players who will be
playing their last home game for the union on Saturday.
They are flanker
Marnus Schoeman, hooker Ryno Barnes and props Janro van Niekerk and
Maks van Dyk.
"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.
Teams:
Griquas
Substitutes: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Simon Westraadt, 18. Jonathan Adendorf, 19. RJ Liebenberg, 20. Dustin Jinka, 21. Ederies Arendse, 22. Jacquin Jansen
EP Kings
15. Siviwe Soyizwapi, 14. Ronnie Cooke, 13. Tim Whitehead, 12. Shane Gates, 11. Ntabeni Dukisa, 10. Gary van Aswegen, 9. Tobie Botes, 8. Tim Agaba, 7. Devin Oosthuizen, 6. Paul Schoeman, 5. Steven Cummins, 4. Cameron Lindsay, 3. CJ van der Linde, 2. Martin Ferreira, 1. Charles Marais
Substitutes: 16. Albé de Swardt, 17. Charl du Plessis, 18. Darron Nell/Steven Sykes, 19. Thembelani Bholi, 20. Kevin Luiters, 21. George Whitehead, 22. Scott van Breda