Coetzee rushes back his Boks
Western Province coach Allister Coetzee wasted no time in rushing back his Springbok discards for Saturday's Currie Cup meeting with the Golden Lions in Johannesburg.
Flank Siya Kolisi and centre Juan de Jongh, who were axed from the national team that are playing Argentina in Mendoza this week, have been named in the starting XV in the only changes to the team.
Coetzee said that whilst it was disappointing for the pair to have missed out on the trip to Argentina, their presence has lifted the Western Province cquad in training this week.
"It is sad to see them not in the [Springbok] mix, but they are home and it is nice to have them.
"It has been nice at training with both Juan and Siya, and just their presencemade a big impact here so hopefully we can carry that into the match on Saturday," he said.
Kolisi displaces Jebb Sinclair and De Jongh takes over from JP du Plessis, with Sinclair and Du Plessis both dropping down to the replacement bench.
Yaya Hartzenberg and Damian de Allende both drop out of the matchday 22.
De Jongh also takes over the vice-captaincy from Marcel Brache, who remains at inside centre, whilst left wing Ederies Arendse was passed fit after suffering an ankle injury against Griquas.
The Springbok outside centre said that he is looking forward to contributing to the team and getting some vital game-time after spending the last two weeks in the bok squad without taking the field.
"I am very happy to be back here with the guys, there is good spirit in the team. it is important to get game-time as I haven't played for the last few weeks and hopefully I can contribute to the team.
"The guys that have been here in the centres like Marcel Brache and JP du Plessis have done great work and I just want to help them and make them even stronger," he said.
Deon Fourie will again captain the WP side from hooker, with Siyabonga Ntubeni warming the bench after his impressive second-half appearance last weekend.
Joining Ntubeni on the bench is experienced scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage, who is back from his week's break and replaces Nic Groom amongst the replacements, with Louis Schreuder getting his second start in a row.
Coetzee explained that with three talented scrumhalves at his disposal he is trying to get the balance between continuity and rotation right.
"I think it is important to look at rotation but you have also got to manage the continuity of the side, so therefore Louis [Schreuder] is still at nine and at a later stage I will probably have Groomy [Nic Groom] to start.
"They are all three good scrumhalves, Dewald [Duvenage] is perhaps still the guy in position and he could be the guy starting against the Bulls which is why it is logical to bring him back," he said.
Duvenage will play in his 50th Currie Cup match for WP should he get onto the field against the Lions.
Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Ederies Arendse, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Tyrone Holmes, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Don Armand, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Deon Fourie (captain), 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 JP du Plessis, 22 Kurt Coleman.
Date: Saturday, August 25
Venue: Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Johan Greeff
