The Cheetahs welcome the return of the seasoned campaigners Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar, while Gideon van der Merwe earns a start of a 9-month injury lay-off.

With Siya Masuku out due to injury, Reinhardt Fortuin will start at flyhalf.

The Cheetahs coach, Hawies Fourie, told OFM Sport that they head into the game as the underdogs.

“The Griquas will obviously be the favourites at home,” said Fourie.

“We are the underdogs and it is up to us to perform better and get a good start in the Currie Cup. The first three games are especially important for us to do well.

“We have focused on the right stuff this week. The players are switched on and focused and I’m sure the same will happen when they run onto the field on Friday.

“The first three Currie Cup games will help us prepare well for the European Challenge Cup round of 16, but our first priority is to get as many Currie Cup log points as possible to build a bit of a buffer before we go and face Toulon.”

Friday afternoon's game in Kimberley kicks off at 16:00.

Griquas - 15 Jay-Cee Nel, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Zander du Plessis, 11 Luther Obi, 10 Lubabalo Dobela, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Janco Venter, 7 Stephan Smit, 6 Niel Otto (captain), 5 Derik Pretorius, 4 Albert Liebenberg, 3 Janu Botha, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Kudzwai Dube.

Replacements - 16 Gustav du Rand, 17 Cebo Dlamini, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Carl Els, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Malcolm Jaer.

Cheetahs - 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Munier Hartzenberg, 10 Reinhardt Fortuin, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Friedle Olivier, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Schalk Ferreira.

Replacements - 16 Chucky van der Westhuizen, 17 Alulutho Tshakweni, 18 Beertjie van Vuuren, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Rewan Kruger, 22 Evardi Boshoff, 23 Cohen Jasper.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport