Rosslee gets friendly start for Griquas

Ikeys playmaker Matt Rosslee will take his first steps onto the first class stage when he plays for Griquas against the SWD Eagles in a pre-season friendly in Mossel Bay on Friday reports rugby365.com

Rosslee, one of the stars in the Ikey Tigers team that lost to Stellenbosch in this year’s Varsity Cup Final, will start at centre for Griquas.

Although he played mostly at flyhalf in the Varsity Cup, he has started in the midfield for UCT in the domestic league and appears to have made a more permanent shift to No.12.

He is currently on trial with the Kimberley-based outfit, which narrowly missed out on the Currie Cup play-offs last year, and Friday’s game against the Eagles will be crucial of Rosslee hopes to land a permanent deal with Griquas.

It is a powerful Griquas team that includes several Springboks in Riaan Viljoen, Bjorn Basson and Davon Raubenheimer.

Rosslee joins two former Ikeys in Richard Lawson and Simon Westraadt who are on the bench vs SWD.

Teams:

SWD Eagles: 15 Bobby Joubert, 14 Baldwin McBean, 13 Senithemba Zweni, 12 Bevin Fortuin (captain), 11 Joe Breytenbach, 10 Ambrose Barends, 9 Dougie Hellmuth, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Christo du Plessis, 6 Danzel Manuel, 5 Henry Grimes, 4 Giant Mtyanda, 3 Tiaan de Kock, 2 Wayne Bennett, 1 Jaco Terblanché.
Replacements: 16 Jandré de Beer, 17 Beyers Bekker, 18 Phillip Spies, 19 Lyndon Hartnich, 20 Jandré Blom, 21 Marchall Potts, 22 Cedric Ryneveld.

Griquas: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Dewald Pretorius, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Matt Rosslee, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier (captain), 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Wesley Wilkens, 5 Cecil Kemp, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Albertus Buckle, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Was Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Frikkie Spies, 19 Gerhard Human, 20 Warren Malgas, 21 Richard Lawson, 22 Rudi Vogt.

Date: Friday, July 2
Venue: D’Almeida Stadium, Mossel Bay
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Bongani Maloni, Cobus Wessels