Cape Town - Western Province have been rocked by the injury-enforced absence of star loose forward Jacques Vermeulen ahead of Saturday’s Provincial Cup game against the Golden Lions XV at Newlands.
Former SA Under-20 powerhouse Vermeulen has been ruled out for six weeks with a knee ligament injury, which forced WP coach John Dobson to re-jig his loose trio and second row when he named his team on Thursday. Jurie van Vuuren moves from lock to blindside flank, while youngster Eduard Zandberg comes in at No 4.
Another injury-related change has resulted in Godlen Masimla (concussion) missing out this week, with Justin Phillips wearing the No 9 jersey and Damian Stevens the back-up scrumhalf.
The other new face in the pack is in the front row, where Mike Willemse drops down from the Stormers bench to the WP starting line-up at hooker after Scarra Ntubeni recovered from a hamstring problem to regain a spot among the Stormers replacements.
It is a pity for Chad Solomon, who has been excellent this season for Province, to slide down to the bench.
WP beat the Blue Bulls and Free State XV in their opening two games, but will be wary of underestimating a Lions side that have recovered from a shock opening-round defeat at home to the Border Bulldogs to record wins over the Welwitschias in Windhoek and the Bulls in Johannesburg.
“We know it is our toughest challenge so far, especially seeing how the Lions beat the Blue Bulls comfortably last weekend, and they have a plethora of experienced Super Rugby players,” Dobson said in a statement.
“It is going to be a big physical challenge for our team. But I am pleased with the progress that we are making as a group. We were not together for long before the tournament and it is nice to see some things starting to work.”
15 Grant Hermanus, 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Scott van Breda, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Tertius Daniller, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Eduard Zandberg, 3 JP Smith, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Bench: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Kyle Whyte, 18 Meyer Swanepoel, 19 Eital Bredenkamp, 20 Damian Stevens, 21 Berton Klaassen, 22 JP Lewis.