Bulls to face Griquas debutantes

Griquas coach Pote Human has included two Currie Cup debutants in his side for their match against the Blue Bulls in Kimberley tomorrow.

Props Ewald van der Westhuizen and Brendon Pitzer, who both played Varsity Cup rugby earlier this year, have both been included in the Griquas match day 22.

Van der Westhuizen, who played for the University of Johannesburg in this year's student competition, has been included at tight head prop in the absence of injured stalwart Nick Schonert.

Pitzer, who played for Maties, could make an impact from the replacement bench against the visitors.

"Both Ewald and Brendon have slotted into the structures nicely and we are confident that they will do their share to help the team against the Blue Bulls," Human said."The younger players like Carel Greeff and RJ Liebenberg have shown what they are capable of, if given the chance, so we are looking forward to the impact the new youngsters will make."

Human has made a number of changes to his backline with scrumhalf Marnus Hugo coming into the side in place of Jacques Coetzee.

Veteran centre JP Nel also gets a start in place of Jean Stemmet, who has been relegated to the bench. Richard Lawson comes in at wing as a replacement for Nico Scheepers who suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the week.

"Injuries keep on interrupting us, but we will never use it as an excuse."We still firmly believe that we can reach the knock-out stages if we beat the Bulls."The team is motivated and we are confident of a good performance against the visitors."

The Griquas side:

Gouws Prinsloo

Richard Lawson

JP Nel, Howard Mnisi

Rocco Jansen

Francois Brummer

Marnus Hugo

Leon Karemaker

Burger Schoeman

Marnus Schoeman

Jaco Nepgen

Rory Arnold

Ewald van der Westhuizen

Ryno Barnes (captain)

Steph Roberts

Replacements:

Matt Dobson

Brendon Pitzer

Patrick O'Brien

RJ Liebenberg

Jacques Coetzee

Du Randt Gerber

Jean Stemmet

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

- Sapa