Upfront, Joseph Dweba, starts at hooker for the match, with Reinach Venter being moved to the bench.

Erich de Jager, will start on the loosehead after Quintin Vorster picked up serious ankle injury last week during their 12-10 win over the Sharks XV in Bloemfontein.

Justin Basson, also earns a start at lock, with the coach Daan Human, opting to rotate the impressive 2.09m tall JP du Preez to the bench. He will partner Sibabalo Qoma in the second-row.

Among the back, Ruan van Rensburg, returns from a long-term injury and start at scrumhalf, where he will partner Ernst Stapelberg in the halfback combination. The Springbok, Rudy Paige, moves to the bench. The team also want to test the impact of Paige.

The in-form Tertius Kruger is not in the match-22 as he is recovering from a cracked jaw, and this sees Ali Mgijima partner Benhard Janse van Rensburg in the midfield.

Lloyd Greeff start the wing in the place of the injured Aya Oliphant, while Ryno Eksteen dons the number 15 jersey, in the place of Darren Adonis who is also injured.

Human told OFM Sport that he is very happy with the work the second-rower, Du Preez, has put in over the past four games, but it’s time to rotate him.

“I must say, we are very happy with JP’s performance, but he has played for 80 minutes in all the game thus far.

“Izak is busy converting him into a proper number five lock who can call the lines. Yes, he still has a lot to learn, but we are very happy with him.”

Friday evening’s game at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 18:00.

Toyota Free State XV - 15 Ryno Eksteen, 14 Sango Xamlashe, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Lloyd Greeff, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Ruan van Rensburg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Gerhard Olivier, 6 Niell Jordaan (captain), 5 Justin Basson, 4 Sibabalo Qoma, 3 Günter Jansen van Vuuren, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Erich de Jager.

Replacements – 16 Reinach Venter, 17 Boan Venter, 18 JP du Preez, 19 Ntokozo Vidima, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Rudy Paige, 21 Vuyani Maqina.

Down Touch Griffons -15 Duan Pretorius (captain), 14 Tertius Maarman, 13 Joubert Engelbrecht, 12 Arthur Williams, 11 Rodney Damons, 10 Juan Kotze, 9 Sherwin Cupido, 8 Cody Basson, 7 Vincent Maruping, 6 Jean Pretorius, 5 Neil Claassen, 4 Gavin Annandale, 3 Rudi Britz, 2 Anrich Alberts, 1 Barend Potgieter.

Replacements – 16 JP Mans, 17 Danie van der Merwe, 18 PW Botha, 19 Henco Greyling, 20 Thato Mavundla, 21 Malcolm-Kerr Till, 22 Wynand Pienaar.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport