Head coach John Dobson has made a few changes to the Western Province starting XV to face the Griffons in the Currie Cup on Friday.

Utility back Mnombo Zwelendaba makes his return from injury for the skirmish in Welkom. Zwelendaba comes in on the wing, joining Clayton Blommetjies and Luke Burger in the back three.

Cornel Smit will link up with Juan de Jongh in midfield and Thomas Bursey starts at scrumhalf in place of the injured Godlen Masimla.

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Louw Nel makes his first start at No 8 for the injured Keke Morabe, while Patric Kitete makes his senior Province debut in the second row alongside Adre Smith, who starts for the first time since returning from injury.

Dobson said that while some changes were forced by injury, there are still many exciting combinations in this team. “We have seen this team continue to grow through this campaign and we will hopefully take another step forward in Welkom on Friday,” he said.

“There are some exciting players coming into the side and we are looking forward to seeing how they go with the guidance of some of our more seasoned campaigners.”

Western Province – 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (c), 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Louw Nel, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Adre Smith, 4 Patric Kitete, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Subs: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 Louwan Horn, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Tom Nel.

Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix