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Sias at pivot for Cheetahs

Bloemfontein - Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has made one tactical change to his side for their Currie Cup encounter against Griquas here on Saturday.

Flyhalf Sias Ebersohn has been promoted to the starting line-up in place of Tewis de Bruyn, with the latter relegated to the replacement bench.

Sias Ebersohn showed some real prowess against the Blue Bulls last weekend and Drotské has included him to counter Griquas playmaker Francois Brummer.

With skipper Robert Ebersohn starting at inside centre, it will also be the first time since their matric year in 2007 that the Ebersohn brothers have started a game directly next to each other in the backline.

Among the replacements, the Cheetahs' newest addition, Maties prop Brummer Badenhorst, comes in for Coenie Oosthuizen, who was called up to the Springbok squad.

"We know that Griquas have a strong team and that we need to improve on our performance against the Blue Bulls last week," Drotské said after naming his team on Wednesday.

"We've left the team as is to build some much needed momentum."

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs:

15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 Raymond Rhule, 12 Robert Ebersohn (captain), 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Marcel van der Merwe.

Substitutes: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Brummer Badenhorst, 18 Carl Wegner, 19 Hendro Scholtz, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Philip Snyman, 22 Andries Strauss.

Griquas:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Walter Venter, 11. Rocco Jansen 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Wesley Wilkins, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Ligtoring Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes (captain), 1 Janro van Niekerk.

Substitutes: 16 Matt Dobson, 17 Ivann Espag, 18 Edwin Hewitt, 19 Justin Downey, 20 Jacques Coetzee, 21 Marnitz Boshoff, 22 JP Nel

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