Up front, Janco Uys gets the nod at hooker, while Phumzile Maqondwana comes into the starting XV at eighth-man following the injury to the influential Gustav Erlank. There is also a welcome return from injury for the experienced Lourens Oosthuizen.

In the backline, Gurswin Wehr starts on the left wing, with Connor Mahoney rotating to the bench in a tactical reshuffle.

Vlam Oosthuizen. Photo: Morgan Piek

The replacements bench also receives a timely boost with the return of the industrious Carl Els, who is back in the matchday squad after recovering from a concussion.

However, the hosts have been dealt a massive setback with powerhouse loose-forward Erlank expected to spend between nine and twelve months on the sidelines after suffering a horrific knee injury against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last week.

The 23-year-old underwent scans earlier this week, and coach Pieter Bergh confirmed to OFM Sport that the damage was severe, and he will undergo surgery on Friday.

“Gustav’s ACL was completely off, and his meniscus is off as well,” said Bergh.

“There’s a lot of stuff wrong in his knee, and it’s a very, very big injury. He’s scheduled to be operated on Friday, and hopefully, all goes well with him.

“We suspect the recovery will be anything between nine and twelve months. It’s not a normal ACL injury where the recovery is six to nine months.”

Bergh added that Maqondwana is more than capable of stepping into the void after producing an immense work-rate display against the Cheetahs.

“Phumzi has obviously got a run of games under his belt now. In the last few years, since he joined us, he mostly played off the bench and hadn’t had a consistent run,” Bergh explained.

“Over the last three weeks, he’s played a lot of minutes, and he’s doing really well. He came off with cramps against the Cheetahs on Friday evening, but if you look at the stats afterwards, he worked incredibly hard and really put in a shift.

Cameron Hufke. Photo: Morgan Piek

“The players voted him man of the match last week. He’s an experienced player, part of our leadership group, and while we obviously feel bad for Gustav because he’s a key part of our team, we’ve built a squad where players can step in when injuries happen.

“This is his opportunity this week.”

Saturday’s SA Cup semi-final at Suzuki Stadium in Kimberley kicks off at 13:00.

Griquas – 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Damian Markus, 12 Sako Makata, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Phumzile Maqondwana, 7 Marco de Witt, 6 Lourens Oosthuizen, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Leon Lyons

Replacements – 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Corné Lavagna, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Carl Els, 21 Caleb Abrahams, 22 Zane Bester, 23 Connor Mahoney

Boland Cavaliers – TBA

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek sm