Loose forward Rynhardt Elstadt and hooker Mike Willemse have been included in Western Province’s starting line-up to face the Golden Lions tomorrow.
Elstadt makes his return to action after being sidelined with an ankle injury, while Willemse has been recalled from the Eastern Province Kings following injuries to Scarra Ntubeni, Chad Solomon and Martin Ferreira.
Willemse, who is on loan to the Eastern Province Kings, featured for Province in the Currie Cup Qualifiers and will get a chance to impress in the blue-and-white jersey after strong performances for the Kings.
Another man who will get a starting berth is Jan de Klerk.
De Klerk will replace JD Schickerling, who suffered a shoulder injury against the Kings, at lock. Jurie van Vuuren will be looking to deliver another impressive performance when he starts at blindside flank as Kobus van Dyk shifts to the back of the scrum.
Van Vuuren came off the bench against the Sharks last week and produced a solid showing.
WP coach John Dobson has opted to go with a five-two split to try and match the speed of the Lions pack, and he has brought in Eital Bredenkamp and Jacques Vermeulen on the bench to add to their pace up front.
“We anticipated this would be a really fast game and they will maybe try and outspeed us towards the end of it. Eital is very fast and the balance of the loose trio has been a challenge for quite a while now.
“So we thought as the game opens up and they have got a guy like Kwagga (Smith) who’s so fast and good on the ball.
“Five forwards, that’s what we thought was the right way to go for this week. We are trying to add some speed, you know.
“Jacques Vermeulen is also a quick loose forward,” Dobson said.
Dobson has made no changes to his backline for the Ellis Park fixture and said that their defence, kicking game and counter-attack were big focus points for them this week.
The Star