The Griquas confidence is high after beating both the Sharks and the Pumas in the first two rounds of the Currie Cup. To date, the Peacock Blues only defeat this season was on 25 May when they lost 37-28 to the Pumas in Nelspruit.

They make up for it by beating the very same Pumas 28-13 in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge final which was played in Saldanha Bay.

For the Free State, their season kicked off last week when they stunned the Blue Bulls with a 43-27 win at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

The Cheetahs were impressive during the set-piece in particular, while they defence also showed a drastic improvement.

The do however want to close out a game a lot better than they did against the Bulls in the capital city.

Despite their win last week, the Free State captain, Tian Meyer, told OFM Sport that they are targeting an 80-minute performance.

“I was very disheartening for us,” said Meyer.

“Speaking to the team after the game, and especially after such a good win, we are disappointed that we let through some tries at the end.

“I think that it has more to do about focus areas. I don’t think that it has anything to do with our ability.

“We do have quality players, so we just need to strive to put in an 80-minute performance no matter what the result of the situation is.”

Saturday's derby between the Free State Cheetahs and Griquas at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 15:00.

Toyota Free State Cheetahs – 15 Darren Adonis, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Rabz Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Abongile Nonkontwana, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Sintu Manjezi, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements – 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Reinach Venter, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Marnus van der Merwe, 21 Gerhard Olivier, 22 Dian Badenhorst, 23 Louis Fouché.

Griquas - 15 George Whitehead (captain), 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Eduan Keyter, 12 André Swarts, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Sias Koen, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Johan Momsen, 4 Ian Groenewald, 3 Ewald van der Merwe, 2 AJ le Roux, 1 Khwezi Mona.

Replacements - 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Mox Moxili, 18 Victor Sekekete, 19 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Chriswill September, 21 Michal Haznar, 22 Grant Hermanus, 23 Ruan Kramer.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport