Jean-Luc du Plessis will lead a Western Province lineup bolstered by a number of DHL Stormers players in the Currie Cup clash against the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday.
Flyhalf Du Plessis will have Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cornel Smit outside him in midfield, with Clayton Blommetjies in at fullback and Angelo Davids and Luke Burger on the wings for the north-south derby in Cape Town.
Marcel Theunissen and Willie Engelbrecht are on the flanks, either side of No 8 Keke Morabe, while lock Adre Smith makes his return from injury on a replacements bench which also includes Gary Porter and Junior Pokomela.
Experienced front-row forwards Scarra Ntubeni and Ali Vermaak, too, are back in the starting XV, with Connor Evans and Dylan de Leeuw forming the lock pairing.
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Head coach John Dobson said that Province are focused on putting in a big effort at Cape Town Stadium: “We have seen some encouraging signs over the last few weeks, despite not getting the results we might have wanted.
“We want to build on those performances and have backed the players that have done the job so far for us this season. It is great to be back at Cape Town Stadium in front of our supporters and we want to make the most of that in what should be a classic north-south Currie Cup game.”
WP – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Cornel Smit, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (c), 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Dylan de Leeuw, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Subs: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Adre Smith, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Thomas Bursey, 23 Damian Markus.
Photo: Thinus Maritz/Gallo Images