Western Province set to call on Stormers reinforcements ahead of Blue Bulls Currie Cup assignment

Clayton Blommetjies of Stormers during the United Rugby Championship 2022/23 match between Stormers and Benetton Rugby held at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch

Fullback Clayton Blommetjies is one of a handful of Stormers players expected to run out for Western Province in the North-South Currie Cup derby on Saturday. Picture: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix

Published Apr 28, 2023

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Cape Town - Fullback Clayton Blommetjies is one of a handful of Stormers players expected to run out for Western Province in the North-South Currie Cup derby on Saturday (kickoff 18:30) against the Blue Bulls in Cape Town.

He should provide some good stability in the back three that could feature winger Angelo Davids who scored in the United Rugby Championship (URC) last Friday against Benetton in Stellenbosch.

It's an important clash for Province as they look to get back to winning ways in the domestic competition and stay with the top teams on the log.

They've come agonisingly close to beating the defending champions, the Pumas, last Friday in Mbombela and will be looking to maintain their hold over the Loftus side.

A weakened WP side beat an almost full-strength URC Bulls team earlier in the season when they locked horns in Pretoria.

It seems John Dobson, WP and Stormers coach, resisted the temptation of letting more senior Stormers players loose to help the team maintain their win record over their arch rivals. The URC is taking a week's break for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.

Jean-Luc du Plessis is set to lead the WP team in the 10-jersey in the absence of veteran centre Springbok Juan de Jongh.

De Jongh's absence also means Cornel Smit, who only recently returned from injury, could get a new centre mate.

That should open the door for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to shift from fullback to inside centre, a position where he helped the Stormers win the URC title last season.

The other surprise inclusion could come in the pack of forwards where it's expected that Stormers' hardman Willie Engelbrecht will pack down on the side of the scrum.

He could be joined by youngster Marcel Theunissen, who also did duty for the Stormers last Friday, in making up an exciting but powerful loose trio with promising eighth man Keke Morabe.

The Stormers are bracing themselves for a big forwards onslaught from the Bulls as is usually the case in the derbies, but they'll fancy getting guys like Davids, Blommetjies and Feinberg-Mngomezulu into space to make some magic to get the DHL Stadium going on Saturday.

Possible WP team: 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. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Ali Vermaak.

@Leighton_K

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