The 22-year-old Marco de Witt will captain the Suzuki Griquas for the first time on Friday in their Currie Cup derby against the Toyota Cheetahs in Kimberley.

The exciting and in-form loose-forward takes over the captaincy of the side from the centre, Sango Xamlashe, who wasn’t picked for the game against the defending champions for tactical reasons.

The Griquas have experienced an injury crisis throughout their campaign, and it was mainly their captains who were ruled out in the tournament. Players such as Stephan Smit, Janco Uys and George Whitehead are all a part of the leadership group, while Hanru Sirgel, who was also the skipper, is currently serving a suspension.

Janco Uys. Picture: Griquas/Louis Botha Photography

There is no doubt that De Witt will lead by example on the field as he has been arguably their most consistent player throughout the Currie Cup.

The Griquas coach, Pieter Bergh, told OFM Sport with several of the leaders in the squad out with long-term injuries it is important to build on the depth in the department. “Marco is a leader and he was the head boy at Boland Landbou a few years ago as well,” said Bergh.

“He is playing good rugby and he is probably one of our best forwards, so we are rewarding him for his performances as well.

“An important thing for us is we can’t make a semi-final or a playoff game this year, so we’ve already started looking towards next year and we need to build our leadership group. We need more leaders in our team – we see Stephan Smit, George Whitehead and Janco Uys all having long-term injuries. We’ve struggled with leadership on the field. It is the start of looking towards growing our leadership group by allowing him to lead the team and build on his experience.”

Bergh added that De Witt will lead by example and it’s a good opportunity for him to show what he is made of.

“Overall, I think he will just lead by example in the way he has been playing. He has really been one of the in-form forwards, not just for us, but in the Currie Cup as well. He has had a brilliant season and he has just grown by each game. It's a good opportunity for him to lead the week.”

Friday afternoon’s big Currie Cup derby between the Griquas and Cheetahs at the Suzuki Stadium in the Diamond City kicks off at 15:00.

Griquas – 15 Connor Mahoney, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Zane Bester, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Sako Makata, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Carl Els, 7 Marco de Witt (captain), 6 Thabo Ndimande, 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Dandré Delport, 1 Leon Lyons

Replacements – 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Cebo Dlamini, 19 Albert Liebenberg, 20 Jac van der Walt, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 Zinedine Booysen, 23 Jay-Cee Nel

Cheetahs – 15 Litha Nkula, 14 Cohen Jasper, 13 Munier Hartzenberg, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Daniel Kasende, 10 Ethan Wentzel, 9 Rewan Kruger, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Aidon Davis, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Mzwanele Zito, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Corné Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Replacements – 16 Vernon Paulo, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Laurence Victor, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Marco Jansen van Vuren, 22 Reinhardt Fortuin, 23 Michael Annies

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg