Cheetahs change two for Griquas

Editor

Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has made two changes to his starting XV for Saturday's clash with Griquas in Bloemfontein.

Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has made two changes to his starting XV for Saturday's clash with Griquas in Bloemfontein.

Last weekend's 28-21 defeat to the Pumas has prompted Duncan to bring in experienced fly-half Elgar Watts at the expense of Willie du Plessis in the back-line, while Jean Cook replaces Neil Claassen on the blindside flank in the only change amongst the forwards.

Both Du Plessis and Claassen have been included amongst replacements bench which also has several changes.

AJ le Roux and Dolph Botha take over from Hercu Liebenberg and Bees Roux as front row cover while Shaun Venter is preferred to Renier Botha as the back-up scrum-half.

Waltie Vermeulen (utility forward) and JP du Plessis (utility back) are the only two replacements, who retain their places on the bench after the loss to the Pumas.

Cheetahs: 15 AJ Coertzen, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Joubert Engelbrecht, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Jean Cook, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (c), 1 Kevin Stevens.
Replacements: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Dolph Botha, 18 Neil Claassen, 19 Waltie Vermeulen, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Willie du Plessis, 22 JP du Plessis.

Date: Saturday, August 16
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 BST, 13:00 GMT)
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: Marius Jonker
Assistant referees: Lesego Legoete, Francois de Bruin
Television match official: JJ Wagner
Assessor: Banks Yantolo