Cape Town — Western Province stuck to their promise of giving their youngsters an extended run in the Currie Cup even if they have a bunch of fringe Stormers players available for Friday’s clash against the Pumas in Athlone.
WP coach John Dobson decided to keep the faith in the squad who have been punching above their weight in the competition and will look to topple the reigning champions to stay in the top four on the log.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was on Stormers duty last weekend, returns to the WP starting line-up alongside Cornel Smith as the centre pairing.
Godlen Masimla is back as starting scrumhalf after missing last weekend’s game due to an injury.
In the other change to the backline, wing Tom Nel also comes into the starting line-up.
Up front, Connor Evans is back at lock, while hooker Chad Solomon will make the switch to flanker in the place of the injured Junior Pokomela
According to Dobson, his team is looking forward to playing at Athlone Stadium.
“It will be fantastic to connect with our fans in Athlone for what is a very important game in the context of the season.
“We have some talented players coming back into the mix and we are looking forward to seeing what they can add against a strong Pumas side.”
Western Province starting XV: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Cornel Smit, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Tom Nel, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis (capt), 9 Godlen Masimla; 8 Louw Nel, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Chad Solomon, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Kwenzo Blose. Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 Armand Maritz, 21 Thomas Bursey, 22 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 23 Duncan Saal.
IOL Sport
