The traditional North-South Derby in Cape Town this Saturday at 18:30 on Saturday has been billed as an appetiser to next week’s Vodacom URC quarter-final between the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls at the same venue.
That said, the coming match will be massively important in the Currie Cup Premier Division context.
DHL WP were in a position to win their previous two fixtures against the Toyota Cheetahs and Airlink Pumas. Poor game management and discipline in the dying stages, however, cost them dearly. They won’t want for motivation when they meet their arch-rivals this Saturday.
By contrast, the Vodacom Bulls have enjoyed a great run of form over the past few weeks, winning three matches on the bounce. Another victory this weekend will catapult the Pretoria-based side into the top four on the Premier Division log.
Flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis will captain DHL Western Province as the second half of the Currie Cup season gets underway.
Du Plessis will have Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cornel Smit outside him in midfield, with Clayton Blommetjies in at fullback and Angelo Davids and Luke Burger on the wings.
Experienced front-row forwards Scarra Ntubeni and Ali Vermaak are back in the starting line-up, with Connor Evans and Dylan de Leeuw forming the lock pairing.
Marcel Theunissen and Willie Engelbrecht are on the flanks, either side of No.8 Keke Morabe.
Lock Adre Smith makes his return from injury on a replacements bench which also includes Gary Porter and Junior Pokomela.
DHL Western Province Head Coach John Dobson said that his side is focused on putting in a big effort at home.
“We have seen some encouraging signs over the last few weeks, despite not getting the results we might have wanted. We want to build on those performances and have backed the players that have done the job so far for us this season.
“It is great to be back at DHL Stadium in front of our supporters and we want to make the most of that in what should be a classic North-South Currie Cup game,” he said.
Vodacom Bulls director of rugby, Jake White will see his young Currie Cup leader, Reinhardt Ludwig, lead a forward’s pack that has Gerhard Steenekamp (loose-head prop), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (hooker) and Francois Klopper (tight-head prop) in the front, supported by Charlie Ewels and Janko Swanepoel at lock.
Ludwig (open-side flanker) will line up alongside Marco van Staden (blind-side flanker) and WJ Steenkamp (eight-man) with Keagan Johannes and Johan Goosen combining at halfback. David Kriel (left) and Wandisile Simelane (right) will be looking to burn their burners at wing with Cornal Hendricks (inside) and Stedman Gans (outside) lacing up their boots as the centre pairing whilst creative playmaker, Kurt-Lee Arendse will provide reinforcement at full-back.
Teams:
DHL Western Province: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Cornel Smit, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (captain), 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Dylan de Leeuw, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Adre Smith, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Thomas Bursey, 23 Damian Markus.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Wandisile Simelane, 13 Stedman Gans, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 David Kriel, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Keagan Johannes, 8 WJ Steenkamp, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Francois Klopper, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Simphiwe Matanzima, 17 Johan Grobbelaar, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Harold Vorster.