Werner Griesel

Griesel played first team rugby for his high school, Welkom Gymnasium, in 2003 and 2004, earning a call-up to the Griffons side that played at the 2004 Under-18 Craven Week tournament in Potchefstroom.^[2]

He enrolled at the Bloemfontein-based University of the Free State in 2005 where he appeared for the Free State U19^[3] and for the Free State U21 side in 2006 and 2007.^[4]

2008 saw Griesel return to Welkom to link up with the Griffons once again.^[5] He made his first class debut in the team's 51–7 defeat to Western Province in Bellville, with Griesel scoring the Griffons' only try of the match in the 75th minute.^[6] He firmly established himself as a first team regular for the Griffons, making in excess of 100 appearances for the side in Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup competitions over the next few years, captaining the side more than 50 times.

Griesel made one single first class appearance for a side other than the Griffons. Following an injury crisis at the Free State Cheetahs,^[7] Griesel was included in their 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division match against the Griquas. Griesel came on as a substitute with twenty minutes to go and scored a try within a minute of coming on with his first touch of the ball, to help the Cheetahs to a 49–39 victory in Bloemfontein.^[8]