Tonight @ 19h00, Carling Currie Cup action returns to DHL Newlands in Cape Town, where DHL Western Province host the Vodacom Bulls after the decision to play all three Tests in the Castle Lager Lions Series at Cape Town Stadium.
The Capetonians were on fire against the men in blue in the opening round in Pretoria, where the hosts were depleted due to the Rainbow Cup final, but they still managed to score four tries for a bonus point.
Unfortunately for the hosts on that day, DHL Western Province scored six tries, with young hooker JJ Kotze bagging four by himself on Carling Currie Cup debut in the hooped jersey.
Evan Roos also scored a try for the Capetonians and he has been on fire since, and will definitely be one of the danger-men identified by the Vodacom Bulls before this match.
Juan de Jongh will come full circle as he captains DHL Western Province in the absence of Ernst van Rhyn through injury.
De Jongh will resume his partnership with Dan du Plessis in the midfield for DHL Western Province, with the only change among the backs from the team that bagged the bonus-point victory on Sunday against the New Nation Pumas being on the wing where Seabelo Senatla starts in place of Tristan Leyds.
Coach John Dobson has a plethora of talent to call upon with the fit-again Warrick Gelant also named among the substitutes.
“It’s an exciting period for us, with two tough home games, but a squad that is looking really confident,’ said Dobson.
‘We’ve come through a very tough sequence of games and the team really lifted themselves in Nelspruit. We know the North-South derby never needs much motivation but for sure, the team will be lifted by the presence of the likes of Warrick [Gelant] and Deon [Fourie]. It’s also a good opportunity to keep the continuity and we all know what leadership qualities Juan [de Jongh] brings to the squad.’
Fourie, of course, knows what it takes to win the competition and lifted the trophy as captain in 2012. He starts from the bench in what has become a very strong matchday squad.
The absence of regular skipper Van Rhyn means that JD Shickerling will be joined by David Meihuizen in the second row with in-form prop Neethling Fouché the only other change to the pack. He replaces Sazi Sandi, who drops to the bench for Friday’s fixture.
“The North-South derby is always a tough, physical battle. Our forwards have shown over the past few matches their ability to dominate and we are hoping that it’s a case of ‘more of the same’ at DHL Newlands,” added Dobson.
Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White, has opted for consistency when naming his squad.
The Vodacom Bulls will head into the clash with a new front row as props Gerhard Steenekamp and Mornay Smith are handed starting berths, replacing the previous match’s starters, Simphiwe Matanzima and Jacques van Rooyen.
Marcell Coetzee, who was a late omission from the team last week due to illness, makes a return in the No.6 jersey and will retain the captaincy.
Springbok loosehead prop, Lizo Gqoboka, slots back into the match-day 23 as bench cover following his release from the national team camp.
The side will also receive a boost in the form of Nizaam Carr, another late casualty last week who was withdrawn on match-day after picking up a niggle ahead of the Jukskei Derby.
White said ahead of the game: “The North versus South derby never fails to produce exciting, quality rugby. We expect nothing less this week in Cape Town.
“We have had a good few days of training after our fixture on Sunday, where we have had time to work on a few critical areas of improvement as well as enhancing the aspects where we fared well. DHL Western Province is a combative side that is also strong contenders for the title, so we will need to be at the top of our game on Friday night.”
Prediction: If the tight five of Western Province can match the Bulls' pack for the full 80 minutes their exciting backline could score enough tries to win this one. Unfortunately, I do not think their replacements are up for the fight. The battle in the loose could prove to be the highlight of the match with both teams having brilliant exciting talent who will fight till the last seconds. And then there is Johan Goosen? The Bulls by 10 points.
DHL Western Province: 15. Sergeal Petersen, 14. Seabelo Senatla, 13. Juan de Jongh (C), 12. Dan du Plessis, 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Tim Swiel, 9. Paul de Wet, 8. Evan Roos, 7. Johan du Toit, 6. Nama Xaba, 5. JD Schickerling, 4. David Meihuizen, 3. Neethling Fouché, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Leon Lyons. Replacements (from): 16. Andre-Hugo Venter, 17. Dian Bleuler, 18. Sazi Sandi, 19. Deon Fourie, 20. Simon Miller, 21. Godlen Masimla, 22. Chris Schreuder 23. Rikus Pretorius, 24. Warrick Gelant, 25. Marcel Theunissen.
Vodacom Bulls: 15. David Kriel, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Lionel Mapoe, 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Richard Kriel, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Zak Burger, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Muller Uys, 6. Marcell Coetzee (C), 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Walt Steenkamp, 3. Mornay Smith, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 1. Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16. Schalk Erasmus, 17. Lizo Gqoboka, 18. Jacques van Rooyen, 19. Janko Swanepoel, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Keagan Johannes, 22. Chris Smith, 23. Sibongile Novuka.