The men from Kimberley travel to Nelspruit where they will have the Pumas, the very same side which recently being them in the dying seconds of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge final in Oudtshoorn.

The Pumas and Griquas have always enjoyed a healthy rivalry and generally provided for thrilling rugby, however, with the recent record between the two teams, Friday’s clash is set to be a humdinger.

Godfrey Ramaboea and Khwezi Mkhafu was both set to make their Currie Cup debut, while the new signings at the Griquas, Izak Burger, will also make his debut if he comes on from the bench.

The match in the Lowveld was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, however, has been brought forward by a day due to the Rugby Championship Test between the Springboks and Argentina.

Friday’s game at the Mbombela Stadium kicks off at 17:00.

Pumas - 15 Gerrit Smith, 14 JP Lewis, 13 Ryan Nell, 12 Hennie Skorbinski (captain), 11 Neil Maritz, 10 Christopher Smith, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Kwezi Mona

Replacements - 16 Frankie Herne, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 Jeandré Rudolph, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Justin van Staden, 22 Trompie Pretorius

Griquas - 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Kyle Steyn (captain), 12 Christopher Bosch, 11 Godfrey Ramaboea, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Conway Pretorius, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Wendal Wehr, 5 FP Pelser, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Khwezi Mkhafu, 1 Devon Martinus

Replacements - 16 AJ Le Roux, 17 Liam Hendricks, 18 Ruan Kramer, 19 Pieter Van Vuren, 20 Izak Burger, 21 Jonathan Janse van Rensburg, 22 Andre Swarts.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport