Rugby
Griquas boosted with welcome Sirgel return─── MORGAN PIEK 13:03 Fri, 17 Mar 2023
The Griquas have made a few changes to their starting XV for Sunday's Currie Cup game against the Sharks in Kimberley.
In the backline, Malcolm Jaer starts at fullback, with Jay-Cee Nel moving to outside centre.
This was an injury enforced change with Sango Xamlashe unavailable.
In the pack, Gustav du Randt, Junior Banda and Carl Els will start.
The flanker Stephan Smit will lead the team onto the field against the Sharks after Niel Otto opted to relinquish the leadership role due to personal reasons.
The Griquas Player of the Year, Hanru Sirgel, will make a welcome return from injury after being named on the bench, he will also be the captain for the season.
Griquas coach, Pieter Bergh, told OFM Sport he is delighted to have Sirgel back and believes the players' skill set is what they missed during last week’s 42-19 defeat to the Cheetahs.
“What we lacked last week was physicality in our pack and I thought that we lacked our ball-carrying capabilities," said Bergh.
“Hanru is a very good ball carrier. He gets you over the gain line. He is very explosive, has speed, and he is also very good in the lineout.
“He is just a wonderful player for us and he will hopefully give us the boost we need after our performance against the Cheetahs.
“When we announced the captaincy change during training earlier in the week, that brought a lot of energy.”
Sunday's game in Kimberley kicks off at 16:00.
Griquas - 15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Jay-Cee Nel, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Carl Els, 7 Stephan Smit (captain), 6 Niel Otto, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Albert Liebenberg, 3 Junior Banda, 2 Gustav du Rand, 1 Kudzwai Dube.
Replacements - 16 Janco Uys, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Janco Venter, 20 Hanru Sirgel (captain), 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Eddie Fouché
Sharks – TBA
