Rugby
Lineouts key for the Griquas─── 09:43 Thu, 25 Sep 2014
The Griquas face another gruelling weekend in the Currie Cup, when they host the in-form and super exciting Golden Lions in Kimberley on Saturday.
The men from the Diamond City are looking to bounce back from their 36-12 loss to the log leading Western Province last week.
The side has rung the changes for Saturday’s clash, largely due to injuries.
The side will be without the services of flyhalf Francois Brummer and eigthman Burger Schoeman.
Varsity Cup winning pivot, Dean Grant returns to a starting role to replace Brummer, while Carel Greef is in for Schoeman at the back of the scrum.
Another change sees Janro van Niekerk start at prop in the place of the injured stalwart, Steph Roberts.
Assistant coach, Peter Engeldow told OFM Sport the injuries are a major setback, but said they are delighted to have their skyscraper, Jaco Nepgen back in the second row.
“Jaco has got a lot of experience, and we thought that we would try and take advantage of the lineouts as an attacking weapon,” Engeldow said on having Nepgen back.
“Last week I think we had 12 scrums, of which only 4 were playable.
“With lineouts you can set an attacking platform and launch your attacks from there,” said Engeldow.
“So we’ve gone for a bit of tall timber in the lineout as opposed to a fetcher, so Marnus is moved to the bench this week,” he added.
Engeldow feels that despite their injuries, they will always back themselves at home against any team.
“Obviously we back ourselves at home, not many teams like coming to Kimberley and playing here,” he said about their tough ground.
“Having said that, I think the Lions are playing some fantastic rugby.
“We’re going to have to do everything we can to ensure our performance is better than last week,” Engeldow respectfully said about their opponents.
“We had a quiet Monday and Tuesday and we’ve been building up since yesterday for the game.
“There were quite a few sore bodies and some of the guys were down, but we turned it around yesterday and was looking quite exciting,” he said about the preparations and the mood in the camp.
Saturday’s match at GWK Park kicks off at 15:00.
Griquas - 15 Gouws Prinsloo, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 PJ Vermeulen, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Jaco Nepgen, 6 Ruaan Lerm, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Janro van Niekerk.
Replacements – 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Simon Westraadt, 18 RJ Liebenberg, 19 Marnus Schoeman, 20 Abrie Griesel, 21 Jacquin Jansen, 22 Danie Dames.
Morgan Piek / OFM News
Peter Engeldow says themselves at home:
