Elgar Watts will start at flyhalf for the Free State Cheetahs' Currie Cup match against Griquas in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

His inclusion is one of two changes from the side who struggled to assert themselves against the Pumas last weekend. Rory Duncan's team were guilty of poor decision-making at times, with Willie du Plessis a casualty of that off-colour performance.

Watts, who performed consistently during Super Rugby, will bring some experience to the pivot position, having played over 100 Currie Cup matches around the country.

In the forwards, Neil Claassen has been relegated to the bench, with Jean Cook drafted in on the blindside.

There have been a number of changes on the bench, with AJ le Roux (hooker), Dolph Botha (prop) and Shaun Venter (scrumhalf) all set to make their first appearances of the season.

Free State 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.
Subs: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Dolph Botha, 18 Neil Claassen, 19 Waltie Vermeulen, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Willie du Plessis, 22 JP du Plessis.

Photo: Charlie Lombard/Gallo Images