Coach Franco Smith has named Clayton Blommetjies at fullback in the place of the injured AJ Coertzen and this will see former Springbok U20 flyer, Sergeal Petersen make his Currie Cup debut for the team on the right wing.

Up front, Gerhard Olivier returns to the run-on team in the place of the injured Boom Prinsloo and this sees the physical Freddy Ngoza being named on the bench as a replacement.

Replacement scrumhalf Ruan van Rensburg also comes on the bench for what will be his Free State debut if he gets game time.

Prinsloo has been ruled out for up to 8 weeks with a broken jaw, while Coertzen injured his ankle against Western Province in Cape Town last week.

Smith agrees that Prinsloo’s injury is a massive blow for the side but feels fortunate to have a player of Tienie Burger’s calibre, who will be playing off the bench.

“Fortunately I kept Tienie in the mix for most of the games and with his Super Rugby experience he has gained he is quite confident slotting in there.

“I agree, we are quite fortunate although on the experience side we will miss Boom in that regard.

With Kimberley expected to be much drier than Cape Town last week, the side are looking for a much more expansive game and should provide fireworks if the exceptionally fast backline can get going.

The match is a derby game and one of the most eagerly anticipated clashes of the year, regardless of either sides form or lack thereof. 

Smith is one of very few top level coaches who represented both the Free State and the Griquas and he feels the people of the regions general outlook on life is the reason for the clash always being a massive battle.

“Look, like I told a few of the players who came from other provinces – the fields here are hard and the people here are even tougher and that’s the approach.

“There’s a lot of pride in the central region of South Africa. I think we are quite used to hard conditions and I don’t think the drought is helping much.

But it’s the type of person that then mentally learns to deal with tough issues and that makes it a tough game.

“The Griqua people are proud, they play with guts and they play with their hearts out there every week. I think that’s what the people of the Free State stand for as well.

“This region is all about honesty and guts if I can put it that way.

“Because it’s so close as well a lot people support both teams in the competition and think that also plays a role. 

Friday evening’s encounter at Griquas Park in Kimberley kicks off at 19:10.

Free State Cheetahs – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Francois Venter, 4 Armand Koster 3, Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Caylid Oosthuizen.

Replacements – 16 Elandré Huggett, 17 Maks van Dyk, 18 Reniel Hugo, 19 Tienie Burger, 20 Freddy Ngoza, 21 Ruan van Rensburg, 22 Sias Ebersohn.

Morgan Piek / OFM News