To conclude the weekend’s Carling Currie Cup round six fixtures, last-placed DHL Western Province and the fifth-placed Airlink Pumas go to battle at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday at 19:20 (SA Time).
Jimmy Stonehouse’s Pumas have a golden opportunity to climb into the top four and will no doubt target a bonus-point victory against winless Province.
If they can achieve this, and the Lions fail to beat the Bulls, the Pumas could find themselves in fourth place heading into the final round. WP, on the other hand, will be playing for pride and a chance to get off the bottom of the table.
Although WP head into this fixture with a 4-1 win advantage between them, Labeeb Levy’s team have lost all five previous games in this year’s competition, while the Pumas themselves will be looking to snap a worrying two-game losing streak.
WP will be encouraged, though, by their steady improvement despite the negative results, while the Pumas, in turn, are aiming to overturn their narrow losses (by a margin of one and three points respectively) into a much-needed winning performance. WP won the previous encounter against the Pumas 39-30 last September.
Loose forward Louw Nel will take over the captaincy for DHL Western Province. Nel has started every game this season, showing an incredible work-rate on both attack and defence throughout. He will lead the team in the absence of Gary Porter, who has been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Nel is joined in the loose trio by Connor Evans and Paul de Villiers, while Riley Norton shifts to the second row in place of Porter. The experienced Deon Fourie, who lifted the trophy in 2012 as captain, will feature from the replacements bench.
The only change to the front row sees Mhleli Khuzwayo come back into the starting line-up.
In the backline, Luke Burger moves to fullback in place of the injured Tristan Leyds, with Joel Leotlela taking his place on the wing.
Airlink Pumas head coach, Jimmy Stonehouse, made two changes to his starting line-up. Up front, the only change is JJ Scheepers, who is back at lock, replacing Jeandre Leonard. Clinton Swart replaced Danrich Visagie at flyhalf, while Stefan Coetzee moved to fullback, replacing Andrew Kota. Lungi Msenge comes in at wing for Coetzee
Teams
DHL Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Jared Africa, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 8 Louw Nel (c), 7 Connor Evans, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Riley Norton, 4 Alex Groves, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo. Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Oliver Reid, 18 Herman Lubbe, 19 Deon Fourie, 20 De Wet Marais, 21 Asad Moos, 22 Ronald Brown, 23 Brendan Venter.
Airlink Pumas: 15 Stefan Coetzee, 14 Ludi Msenge, 13 Sango Xamlashe, 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Darren Adonis, 10 Clinton Swart, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (c), 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janke. Replacements: 16 Darnelle Osuagwu, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Hanno Theunissen, 20 Andre Fouche, 21 Russwill Fredericks, 22 Danrich Visagie, 23 Tiaan Pretorius.