WESTERN Province’s Clayton Blommetjies will look to help his team sidestep to victory against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this afternoon. BackpagePix
WESTERN Province stuck to their guns by giving their youngsters an extended run in the Currie Cup, but have brought in some experience to tackle the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this afternoon.
In a rematch of the round-one clash in Cape Town won by the hosts, Province will look to return the favour in Pretoria (5.15pm kick-off) after securing their first win of the competition against the Griffons last weekend.
They scored 10 tries in Welkom, but know that things will be trickier against a strong Bulls side at their fortress.
Junior Springbok Divan Fuller, 19, will make his debut for the blue-and-white hoops, with former Bulls players Wandisile Simelane and loosehead prop Lizo Gqoboka returning from injury alongside tighthead Sazi Sandi, and veteran Courtnall Skosan taking his place on the wing again replacing the injured Jared Africa.
It’s not just Simelane and Gqoboka who are returning to Loftus but also lock Hendre Stassen and fullback Clayton Blommetjies.
On the opposite side, Bulls captain Nizaam Carr, lock Cobus Wiese, wing Sergeal Petersen and replacement loose forward Nama Xaba all donned the WP jersey before.
So there will be a lot of small battles within the big one and according to WP assistant coach Dawie Snyman, they are looking forward to taking on the home team in dryer conditions than what the case was at the start of the competition.
“That first round was a storm. It was difficult conditions,” Snyman said.
“It was closer than what it ended on and the Bulls did well in those circumstances. We have the opportunity to take them on in better conditions that suit our playing style better. But we also learned some good lessons from that game.
“We know it will start up front, to stop the Bulls there. The success of their campaign comes from their sharpness in the scrums and line-outs, and those good rolling mauls. They build momentum with the forwards for the plans out wide.
“We must be accurate and physical up front.”
About the ‘homecoming’ for some of the WP players, Snyman said those battles could add an extra edge to the game. But normally, a North-South derby is personal and it won’t only just be about those players returning to Loftus, or the former WP players running out against them.
The Bulls, along with the Lions, are the only unbeaten sides in the competition and Province will be out to end that.
Snyman added they are not surprised the Bulls went with a six-two replacement bench split in favour of the forwards.
“We didn’t really try to figure out how they will go about their squad selection, but that six-two split is an indication that they will look to take us on up front.”
Western Province: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (capt), 7 Divan Fuller, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Hendre Stassen, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Andre Goedhals, 20 CJ Velleman, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Damian Markus, 23 Luke Burger
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