DHL Western Province will be heading to Johannesburg to play the Sigma Lions in Saturday’s Carling Currie Cup clash at Emirates Airlines Park with arguably their strongest team of the season.
With the Stormers not playing this weekend and some players from their highly successful Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign only recently returned from injury and in need of game time, there is a lot of experience in the team that is likely to face a Lions side also fortified by URC players now that their campaign in that competition has come to an end.
There are six players in the WP team who flew with the Stormers to last weekend’s game against Scarlets, although loosehead prop Ali Vermaak was the player who was cut from the 24-man squad to make 23. Cornel Smit, Godlen Masimla, Marcel Theunissen, captain Nama Xaba and Ernst van Rhyn were all on the bench at Parc Y Scarlets and most contributed to the exciting last-gasp try victory.
Junior Pokomela, who started against Leinster in the Stormers’ game prior to their trip to Wales, starts at No 8 for WP and will be looking for a good performance to cement a place in the Stormers squad for the URC playoffs, and ditto for lock Adre Smith, one of the finds of the URC season for the Stormers but who missed the game against Scarlets.
Wing Ebenezer Tshimanga will be making his first start for WP on the wing, while the changes to the forwards are the return of props Vermaak and Sazi Sandi, plus Smith and Pokomela, to make it five changes in all from the team that scored a much needed and courageous victory over the Airlink Pumas in Nelspruit last time out.
Stormers centre Rikus Pretorius makes his return to rugby from concussion off the bench, while another regular Stormers squad member from earlier in their campaign, Ben-Jason Dixon, is also on the bench.
WP broke a long win drought against the Pumas and the Lions are the only other team they have beaten this season. Province still have an outside mathematical chance of qualifying for the Currie Cup semifinals, although it is a long shot if you consider they are eight behind the fourth placed team with three games to play, so will have that motivation in their quest for a bonus point win.
“It is great to have some experience coming in for this game but we know we will have to be at our best against a motivated Lions team if we are to get another win away from home and it will require 80 minutes focus,” said coach Jerome Paarwater after naming his team.
DHL Western Province: Tristan Leyds, Sergeal Petersen, Juan de Jongh, Cornel Smit, Ebenezer Tshimanga, Tim Swiel, Godlen Masimla, Junior Pokomela, Marcel Theunissen, Nama Xaba (captain), Adre Smith, Ernst van Rhyn, Sazi Sandi, Jacques van Zyl, Ali Vermaak.
Replacements:HP van Schoor, Kwenzo Blose, Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, Ben-Jason Dixon, Keke Morabe, Thomas Bursey, Mnombo Zwelendaba, Rikus Pretorius.