New Western Province rugby coach Gert Smal announced his first squad after a trial on Saturday.
The 42 players will form the bulk of WP's challenge in the Vodacom Cup this season. WP's first match is against Eastern Province on February 25 in Port Elizabeth.
Smal said injuries to the Stormers had contributed to his selection problems, but that it was a chance to assess the depth of WP rugby. Smal said that he was satisfied with the outcome of the trials held at Florida Park on Saturday, but disappointed with the standard.
"There is a lot of work to be done," he said today.
Some of the players of last season, among them Werner Gey von Pitius, Werner Greeff, Jeffrey Stevens, Brett Barrett and Pietie Ferreira are again available, while Stuart Abbott (Northern Free State),Jan Maree (EP) and Neil de Kock (Boland) have joined from other provinces.
Western Province squad:
Backs:
Donovan van Vuuren, Juan Houtshamer, Howard Johnson, Nico de Beer, Herman Mostert, Anthony Robberts, Stuart Abbott, WP Strauss, Brendan Bell, Tinus Linee, Roderique Manuel, Douglas Kleinbooi, Desmond Houston, Patrick Petersen, Chris Rossouw, Cassie Carstens, Neil de Kock, Yazeed Manuel, Werner Gey von Pittius, Werner Greeff, Jeffrey Stevens
Forwards:
Eddie Andrews, Janne du Toit, Piet Francken, Rayne Bruce, Chris Norton, Patrick Bell, Faan Rautenbach, Deon Carstens, Nicki Rheeder, Thys Stoltz, Jan Maree, Brett Barrett, Charl Holwil, Rian Mey, Adri Badenhorst, Brandon Bekker, Pietie Ferreira, Patrick Kleinbooi, Chris Steenkamp, Donovan Everitt, Mark Willard - Cape Argus