Bloemfontein – Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has made only one change to his starting line up and one to his bench for a Currie Cup encounter against the Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
With seasoned lock Carl Wegner out for several weeks after dislocating his shoulder in the Cheetahs clash against the Sharks last weekend, Duncan brought in Henco Venter from the bench.
Venter, who was introduced against the Sharks when Wegner injured himself in the 12th minute, impressed with his general play and his prowess in the line outs.
Duncan said he had done more than enough to be included in the starting XV in Kimberley.
“Henco played very well against the Sharks. He made use of his opportunity and gets another go,” he said.
“We are lucky that we have someone like Waltie Vermeulen on the bench to give us some much-needed depth. We may have to look elsewhere though to give ourselves some insurance in the lock department.”
Coming off a close loss against the Sharks – after leading most of the match – Duncan chose not to rearrange his team.
“We made some mistakes against the Sharks – it is a sign of a new team – but we need to rectify those against Griquas. They are going to be a hard nut to crack at home,” Duncan said.
Free State Cheetahs: Clayton Blommetjies, Rayno Benjamin, Francois Venter, Joubert Engelbrecht, Raymond Rhule, Willie du Plessis, Sarel Pretorius, Jean Cook, Neil Claassen, Tienie Burger, Francois Uys, Henco Venter, Rudolph Botha, Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), Kevin Stevens.
Replacements: AJ le Roux, George Marich, Waltie Vermeulen, Vincent Jobo, Shaun Venter, Pieter-Steyn de Wet, JP du Plessis.– Sapa