Can you believe it? Bulls prop to play in Kimberley for first time

Experienced Bulls prop Lizo Gqoboka is preparing to face Griquas in Kimberley in a Currie Cup match this weekend – with his visit to the Northern Cape town, surprisingly, a first for the well-travelled front-row forward.

In his 10-year career, the 31-year-old has never played a rugby match in Kimberley.

“It’s going to be my first time playing there,” said an excited Gqoboka ahead of the Bulls’ trip to Kimberley this weekend.

“You know, in my whole career, I’ve never played in Kimberley, for some weird reason. There has always been something that’s come up whenever I’ve been about to play there.

“So, if I play this weekend, it will be my first time. For me, it’s exciting. People always talk about how tough it is to play there, and those are the type of games you want to test yourself – in different conditions.”

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Despite not having tasted the experience of playing in Kimberley, Gqoboka is familiar with the opposition for the weekend.

The hard-working tighthead prop expects a tough challenge from the side from the Northern Cape.

“The one thing about the Griquas has always been their physicality, and they always fight right up until the end. We expect exactly that on the weekend,” he said.

“We have seen that their set piece is quite strong. Their scrum has been one of the most dominant in the competition – we are aware of that, and we are excited about the challenge.

“The main thing will be that we will need to front up physically. They have grown as a team in terms of their balance between the set piece and they also play with intensity. Their kicking game is also very good. So, it’s a good challenge.

“You can never play for 60 minutes and think you are done because they fight until the end. We’ve seen them beating so-called big teams down in Kimberley, and also winning away. It speaks to the quality of players that they have and the quality of their coaches. It’s really going to be a good game with lots of excitement.”

The match between the Bulls and Griquas kicks off at 2.30pm on Saturday.