Only Clayton Blommetjies, Craig Barry, Malcolm Jaer, Andisa Ntsila and Victor Sekekete started in Sunday’s 38-31 defeat to the Sharks in Durban.

The captain, Ruan Pienaar, is back to lead the side from scrumhalf, while Reinhardt Fortuin is returns to start at flyhalf.

David Brits and Siya Masuka will form the centre combination in the only other change to the starting  backline.

Upfront, Aranos Coetzee, Marnus van der Merwe and Cameron Dawson return to form the front-row. In the second row, Jean Drosté returning, while Sekekete moves over to don the number four jersey.

In the backrow, Aidon Davis, starts at eighth-man again, with Junior Pokomela regaining the number seven jersey. 

“We’ve shown glimpses of what we can do and had too many soft moments to let teams in. The short turnaround is tough on the bodies but I think it is the same for everyone,” said captain Ruan Pienaar.

“I don’t think the log table justifies the way we’ve played this season. We’ve had a really tough start to the season with Covid and injuries and a few narrow losses. It could easily have gone differently and we might have been second or third on the log.”

“We have a young group and a lot of new players. Things don’t just happen overnight and we know that there is a process that we need to follow. We need to back the coaches and the management and what they expect of us and just do that better. It might take some time, but we’ll get there.”

“Griquas is a tough team and they’ve played some really good rugby. They’ve beaten some of the top teams in this season both home and away and we know that it’s a massive challenge.”

“It is always a big battle against Griquas. They have a really good game plan and I think they’ve evolved a lot as a team since we last played them. They’ll come here with confidence.”

“We’ve got to be up for it. It’s another derby against Griquas which is always exciting to watch. We’ve prepared well and hopefully put up a positive performance.”

Wednesday's derby at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein kicks off at 16:45

Toyota Cheetahs - 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Craig Barry, 13 David Brits, 12 Siya Masuka, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Aidon Davis, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Jean Drosté, 4 Victor Sekekete, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Cameron Dawson.

Replacements – 16 Chucky van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Beertjie van Vuuren, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Reinier Viljoen, 21 Mihali Mosi, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 Chris Smit.

Griquas - 15 Ashlon Davids, 14 Eduan Keyter, 13 Chris Hollis, 12 Johnathan Francke, 11 James Verity-Amm, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), Hanru Sirgel, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Stefan Willemse, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Erich de Jager, 2 Alandré van Rooyen, 1 Mox Mxoli.

Replacements - 16 Janco Uys, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Andries Schutte, 19 Johan Momsen, 20 Luyolo Dapula, 21 Raegan Oranje, 22 André Swarts, 23 Ederies Arendse, 24 Andrew Kuhn, 25 Cameron Lindsay, 26 Fiela Boshoff.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport