There were few surprises when coach Pieter Bergh named his matchday 23, although three players are set to make their Currie Cup debuts for the Peacock Blues. The 8th-man Dillon Smith, winger Stefan Coetzee and centre Damian Markus will all pull on a Currie Cup jersey for Griquas for the first time after impressing since arriving in Kimberley.

There are also two significant milestones, with loosehead prop Leon Lyons and exciting fullback Cameron Hufke both set to earn their 50th caps for the defending champions.

Leon Lyons will be playing in his 50th game for the Griquas. Photo: Morgan Piek

Hufke starts at fullback, with Dylan Maart and Coetzee forming an exciting back three. Mnombo Zwelendaba and Sako Makata line up in midfield, while experienced flyhalf George Whitehead partners Bobby Alexander in the halfback combination.

The loose trio features Smith at the back of the scrum alongside Marco de Witt and Carl Els, while captain Albert Liebenberg joins Malembe Mpofu in the second row. IG Prinsloo, Janco Uys and Lyons complete the front row.

Dillon Smith will make his Currie Cup debut for the Griquas. Photo: Morgan Piek

The replacements provide plenty of impact, with powerful prop Eddie Davids returning after his stint with the Lions in the United Rugby Championship. Lourens Oosthuizen, Caleb Abrahams, Markus and Hufke also offer valuable firepower off the bench.

Bergh told OFM Sport that selecting the squad was no easy task, with several players forcing their way into contention through strong performances during the Toyota Challenge and the recent friendly against Boland.

“There’s always selection headaches. After the Toyota Challenge a lot of guys put their hands up for selection,” said Bergh.

“We obviously brought in Dillon Smith and Stefan Coetzee, and they’ve done really well since they’ve been here.

“Guys also put their hands up in that friendly against Boland. The moment we saw the fixtures and realised we were playing Western Province away on a Friday night, we started planning for that.

“A lot of the team selection is based on the conditions we expect in Cape Town, as well as the Stormers team we expect to face. It’s a bit of horses for courses for us this week.”

While Griquas enter the competition as defending champions, Bergh insists the mindset within the squad is not about protecting the trophy, but rather winning it all over again.

Cameron Hufke is set for his 50th Griquas cap as well. Photo: Morgan Piek

“It is important to have won it before because it gives you something to fall back on when things don’t go well,” Bergh added.

“You’ve been in those situations where you’ve lifted the trophy. But we haven’t spoken much about defending the title. We don’t see ourselves as wanting to defend it – we want to attack and go and win it again. We know other teams will see it as an opportunity to beat the defending champions and that we’ve got a target on our backs, but that’'s not how we look at it.

“We want to go and win the title, and that’s our drive. It’s an old cliché, but we take it one game at a time. If you look at our draw, we’ve got one away game before we have four at home, and then we’re on the road again.

Gurswin Wehr will start at fullback in Cape Town. Photo: Morgan Piek

“Our most important game is this one. We haven’t won our opening Currie Cup match since I’ve been here – it’s been four years in a row that we’ve lost our first game.

“It’s important that we start well, build momentum early and get the campaign off on the right foot.”

Friday night’s opening-round clash between the Stormers and Griquas at the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point kicks off at 19:05.

Stormers – TBA

Griquas – 15 Gurswin Wehr, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Mnombo Zwelendab, 12 Sako Makata, 11 Stefan Coetzee, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Dillon Smith, 7 Marco de Wiit, 6 Carl Els, 5 Albert Liebenberg (captain), 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 IG Prinsloo, 2 Janco Uys, 1 Leon Lyons

Replacements – 16 Tiaan Lange, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Lourens Oosthuizen, 21 Caleb Abrahams, 22 Damian Markus, 23 Cameron Hufke

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek sm