In Saturday’s late afternoon Currie Cup Round 1 clash, the Fidelity ADT Lions host the DHL Western Province at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg at 15:30
Experienced coach John Dobson will be guiding the DHL WP this season following a disappointing 2022, however, the Capetonians will be sternly tested by the Highvelders in Johannesburg.
The Fidelity ADT Lions, again under the watchful eye of Mziwakhe Nkosi, endured a disappointing season in 2022 and finished last on the standings, so they will be out to get the new season off to a winning start.
The Fidelity ADT Lions have named a youthful team with Travis Gordon leading the side. Gordon, who will need all his captaincy skills against a good DHL Western Province side, will be joined by Sibusiso Sangweni and Ruan Delport as the loosies.
Pieter Janse van Vuren and Darrien-Lane Landsberg will be the lock partners while the experienced front row of Sti Sithole, Jaco Visagie and Ruan Smith will add experience to the squad.
Morne van der Berg will form a halfback combination with young flyhalf Vaughan Isaacs.
Tyler Bocks and Matt More are the centres, while Boldwin Hansen (left wing) and Stean Pienaar (right wing) and fullback Tiaan Swanepoel complete the back three.
The DHL Western Province team will be captained by lock Ernst van Rhyn in the Currie Cup opener while fullback Clayton Blommetjies will make his debut for DHL Western Province.
Blommetjies is joined in the back three by wings Angelo Davids and Duncan Saal, with the experienced Juan de Jongh linking up with Jean-Luc du Plessis in midfield.
Kade Wolhuter will have Godlen Masimla as his halfback partner to round out a dangerous backline.
Up front, hooker Scarra Ntubeni will have props Kwenzo Blose and Lee-Marvin Mazibuko start on either side of him, while Van Rhyn is joined by Connor Evans in the second row.
The loose trio will see flanks Marcel Theunissen and Ben-Jason Dixon line up alongside powerful No.8 Keke Morabe.
There are also potential DHL Western Province senior debuts for lock Dylan de Leeuw, flank Louwan Horn, centre Bruce Sherwood and utility back Suleiman Hartzenberg from the replacements bench.
DHL Western Province Head Coach John Dobson said that the focus this week has been on making the most of the considerable talent in the matchday squad.
“It has been a good training week, with great energy for the start of the Currie Cup.
“We have some incredibly talented players going up to Joburg, so the challenge for us will be to ensure that we make the most of that and get the competition off to a positive start,” he said.
Teams
Fidelity ADT Lions: 15. Tiaan Swanepoel, 14. Stean Pienaar, 13. Matt More, 12. Tyler Bocks, 11. Boldwin Hansen, 10. Vaughan Isaacs, 9. Morné van den Berg, 8. Travis Gordon (c), 7. Ruan Delport, 6. Sibusiso Sangweni, 5. Darrien-Lane Landsberg, 4. Pieter Janse van Vuren, 3. Ruan Smith, 2. Jaco Visagie, 1. Sithembiso Sithole. Replacements: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Morgan Naudé, 18. Kabous Bezuidenhout, 19. Raynard Roets, 20. Ruhan Straeuli, 21. Jarod Cairns, 22. Nico Steyn, 23. Zeilinga Strydom.
DHL Western Province: 15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. Angelo Davids, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11. Duncan Saal, 10. Kade Wolhuter, 9. Godlen Masimla, 8. Keke Morabe, 7. Ben-Jason Dixon, 6. Marcel Theunissen, 5. Connor Evans, 4. Ernst van Rhyn (c), 3. Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2. Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1. Kwenzo Blose. Replacements: 16. Andre-Hugo Venter, 17. Leon Lyons, 18. Sazi Sandi, 19. Dylan de Leeuw, 20. Louwan Horn, 21. Paul de Wet, 22. Bruce Sherwood, 23. Suleiman Hartzenberg.
