The Griquas remain the only side in the competition that Hawies Fourie’s charges have not managed to beat, and the defending Currie Cup champions once again loom as a major threat. Preparation for the knockout clash was far from ideal for Boland, with severe weather in the Western Cape disrupting training throughout the week. 

Heavy rain forced the Cavaliers indoors on Monday and Tuesday, with the team only managing one proper field session on Thursday before flying to Kimberley.

Recent encounters between the sides have been fiercely contested, with very little separating them over the past two seasons. The Griquas will also be determined to bounce back after suffering a narrow 32–31 defeat to the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last week.

Hawies Fourie. Photo: Morgan Piek

Boland, meanwhile, heads into the semi-final full of confidence after demolishing the Eastern Province Elephants 85–29 in Wellington. Winger Xavier Mitchell stole the show with a remarkable seven-try haul, underlining the attacking threat the Cavaliers carry out wide.

With a good weather forecast for Kimberley, all signs point towards a fast-paced and open contest, with both backlines expected to light up the Suzuki Stadium if given space out wide.

Despite the disruptions to their preparations, Boland assistant coach Charl Strydom told OFM Sport that as a team they are ready for the challenge.

“We had a tough week of preparation – there was a lot of rain in the Western Cape on Monday and Tuesday, so we had to train indoors in a confined space,” said Strydom.

“Our only field session was on Thursday, but hopefully the guys are well rested and ready to stretch their legs this weekend.

“We’ve had a couple of close calls against the Griquas in the last three games we’ve played against them, so we’re definitely getting closer to getting a result there. Hopefully this weekend we can close the game out and maybe feature in a final, which would be great.

Louis Schreuder. Photo: Morgan Piek

“We’ve got some good momentum going into this game. We haven’t been great for the whole season, and at times we struggled to execute what we’ve worked on, but in the last two games we’ve started to gel.

“The guys are picking the right passes and scoring some nice tries, so hopefully that momentum carries into this match.”

Strydom added the Griquas would be desperate to respond after last week’s heartbreak against the Cheetahs, making the challenge even tougher for the visitors.

“Obviously, the Griquas will want to bounce back after their loss to the Cheetahs last weekend, so we’re expecting a big challenge. “It looks like it’s going to be great weather over there, which should make for good rugby.”

Saturday’s semi-final at Suzuki Stadium 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 – 15 James Tedder, 14 Xavier Mitchell, 13 Lunathi Nxele, 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Chris Smit, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Thurlow Marsh (captain), 7 Sibusiso Sangweni, 6 Sauliegh Arendse, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Jeandré Leonard, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Joshua Eras, 1 Dewald Maritz

Replacements – 16 Sidney Tobias, 17 Mthokozisi Gumede, 18 Andrew Beerwinkel, 19 Michael Benadie, 20 Kwanda Dimaza, 21 Chriswill September, 22 Thurlon Williams, 23 Domenic Smit

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek sm