Currie Cup-winner set to make Province debut against Bulls
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Loose forward Willie Engelbrecht will make his Western Province debut in the Currie Cup game against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
The North-South clash will kick-off at 19.05 local time (17.05 GMT) as Western Province look to build on their encouraging win against the Lions last week.
Engelbrecht, who was part of the Pumas team who won the Currie Cup last season, comes in at blindside flank, with Ben-Jason Dixon on a replacements bench which also features loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani, who makes his return from injury.
There are two rotational changes in the front row as hooker Andre-Hugo Venter and tighthead prop Sazi Sandi come into the starting line-up and Scarra Ntubeni and Lee-Marvin Mazibuko take their place among the replacements.
In the backline Paul de Wet starts at scrumhalf, while injuries to wings Duncan Saal and Angelo Davids mean that Suleiman Hartzenberg and Ruhan Nel come into the starting XV.
Western Province Head Coach John Dobson said that the players coming in this week are all keen to make their mark.
“There are some rotational changes and a few that were forced by injuries and we expect all of them to add something on Friday.
“It is a second away game in just six days on the highveld to start the season, so we will need to be at our best to get the result we are looking for,” he said.
Western Province: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Bruce Sherwood.
Date: Friday, March 17
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 19.05 (17.05 GMT)
Referee: Griffin Colby
Assistant Referees: Local
TMO: Christie du Preez
