The Suzuki Griquas have named a strong team for their Currie Cup opener against the Pumas in Kimberley on Friday afternoon and they are braced for a physical and tough encounter.

This includes the return of Hanru Sirgel who will be starting at 8th-man for the Peacock Blues.

The Griquas coach, Pieter Bergh, has gone with a largely settled side for the match against the team they beat 46-24 at the end of May in the final of the SA Cup.

To date, the Griquas haven’t lost a single match this year and the confidence is high, while they have good momentum, but the Pumas will head to Kimberley looking to set the record straight.

The Griquas coach, Pieter Bergh, told OFM Sport that the Currie Cup takes it to a different level.

“In this competition it’s strength versus strength and we did not have that in the SA Cup to be honest, there were too many games with big scores,” said Bergh.

“I don't think we will see that in the Currie Cup, it will be very tight. If you look at last year, we finished seventh, but in the last round we still had an opportunity to reach the semi-finals. We were three or four points from the semi-finals, but finished in seventh.

“Anyone can beat anyone in the Currie Cup and there are no easy games.”

Friday afternoon’s match at the Suzuki Stadium kicks off at 15:00, while on Saturday at 13:55 the Toyota Cheetahs will tackle the Griffons in Bloemfontein.

Griquas - 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Marcqiewn Titus, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 11 Sako Makata, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Hanru Sirgel, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Stephan Smit (captain), 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Leon Lyons.

Replacements - 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Athenkosi Khetani, 20 Carl Els, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 Lubabalo Dobela, 23 Tertius Kruger

Pumas - 15 Stephan Coetzee, 14 Lundi Msenge, 13 De-An Ackermann, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Phiko Shobale, 10 Clinton Swart, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Kwanda Dimaza, 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Shane Kirkwood (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janeke

Replacements - 16 Darnell Osuagwu, 17 Stephan de Jager, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Deon Slabbert, 20 Marvelous Mashimbyi, 21 Richman Gora, 22 Danrich Visagie, 23 Tino Swanepoel

Morgan Piek OFM Sport