Province hamstrung in midfield
Centre Michael van der Spuy is the only injury worry for Western Province coach Allister Coetzee, ahead of Saturday's away meeting against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria.
Van der Spuy has a tight hamstring, following the weekend's 27-14 win over the Golden Lions, and did not train on Monday.
Should Van der Spuy be ruled out of action, Jaco Taute (on the bench last week) and Pat Howard (who came off the bench in Round One) would come into the selection equation an centre.
The good news for the table-topping WP team is that hooker Siyabonga Ntubeni – although not ready for selection as yet – rejoined training on Monday.
He could be considered for selection against the Eastern Province Kings (at home) next weekend, but it depends on his conditioning.
Hooker Stephan Coetzee (bruised ankle sustain at the weekend) is 100 percent and will be considered for selection against the Bulls.
Prop Oliver Kebble (ankle) will be ready to play in the away match against the Golden Lions in a fortnight.
Coach Allister Coetzee said he is not 100 percent happy, despite his team's impressive win against the Lions this past weekend.
"It was a great effort against the Lions, but there's a lot we can [still] improve on," the Province mentor said.
"We need to keep on looking after – and respecting – the ball.
"Our penalty count and turnover count are constantly being monitored and we need to ensure we're always making an improvement there."
Coetzee said that despite the Blue Bulls' poor form – they won their first match of the season by scraping past the bottom-placed Kings – WP will never underestimate their arch-rivals.
"The Bulls did well to beat the EP Kings last week," Coetzee said.
"Don't look at the scoreline, they've come off a difficult few weeks and it was a big and valuable win for them."
