One of the biggest clashes of Round 9 of the 2023 Currie Cup Premier Division sees the Toyota Cheetahs hosting DHL Western Province in Bloemfontein at 13:00 (SA Time) on Saturday.
The Free Staters won the previous battle between the two teams in Cape Town. They may feel that they have what it takes to bank the points this Saturday and to strengthen their position at the top of the log.
And yet, the Toyota Cheetahs haven’t had everything their own way in Bloemfontein this season, losing big games against the Airlink Pumas and Cell C Sharks.
DHL WP have won two of their three away fixtures in this campaign, and are coming off a convincing victory against the Vodacom Bulls.
Toyota Cheetahs head coach Hawies Fourie announced the team with a couple of changes from last week.
Hencus van Wyk will replace the injured Aranos Coetzee. The flankers are Gideon van der Merwe and Sibabalo Qoma, and George Cronje will be wearing the number 8 jersey.
Ruan Pienaar is back in the starting lineup with Dan Kasende on right-wing and Cohen Jasper on fullback the other changes.
On the bench are Louis van der Westhuizen, Nqobisizwe Mxoli (Mox), Laurence Victor, Mzwanele Zito, Friedle Olivier, Daniel Maartens, Rewan Kruger and David Brits.
There are seven changes to the DHL Western Province starting line-up as DHL Western Province look to build on their win against the Vodacom Bulls at DHL Stadium last week.
Wing Lloyd Koster will make his debut, while Damian Markus makes his first start at inside centre alongside the experienced Juan de Jongh who returns from injury in the only changes to the backline.
Junior Pokomela and Jarrod Taylor start on the flanks, while in the front row hooker Andre-Hugo Venter and prop Kwenzo Blose both come in having featured from the replacements bench last week.
DHL Western Province Head Coach John Dobson said that the focus this week has been building on what was an encouraging performance last week.
“This is another tough away trip, but we have seen some good progress this season from some of our combinations and we want to take the next step forward on Saturday.
“We have several experienced heads who understand what it takes to win a Currie Cup game in Bloemfontein, with some really exciting young talent around them, so we are looking forward to seeing what they can do,” he said.
Teams
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Cohen Jasper, 14 Daniel Kasende, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Reinhardt Fortuin, 11 Munier Hartzenberg, 10 Siyamthanda Masuku, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 George Cronje, 7 Siba Qomo, 6 Gideon van der Merwe, 5 Victor Sekekete (captain), 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Nqobisizwe Mxoli, 18 Laurence Victor, 19 Mzwanele Zito, 20 Friedle Olivier, 21 Daniel Maartens, 22 Rewan Kruger, 23 David Brits.
DHL Western Province: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Lloyd Koster, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Luke Burger, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (captain), 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Dylan de Leeuw, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Kwenzo Blose. Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Duncan Saal.
