WP shuffle the deck for Nelspruit trip
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: There are four changes to the Western Province forward pack for their Currie Cup encounter with Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.
Three of the changes are in the front row and the other is at lock.
The backline is unchanged for the meeting with the Mpumalanga side.
There is an all-new front row of props Kwenzo Blose and Neethling Fouche and hooker Jacques van Zyl, while the other change sees Ernst van Rhyn start at lock.
Hooker Hendrik van Schoor and wing Ebenezer Tshimanga are both in line to make their senior Western Province debut from a replacements bench which also features loose forward Junior Pokomela.
Western Province coach Jerome Paarwater said that his team are looking forward to the challenge in Nelspruit.
“This latest break has given us another chance to work on a few things and hopefully we will see the result of that on Friday,” Paarwater said.
“The players and coaches continue to work hard and we know that we will have to be at our best to come away with a win,” he said.
Western Province: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Timothy Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Nama Xaba (captain), 5 Ben-Jason Dixon, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Jacques van Zyl, 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Hendrik van Schoor, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 19 Simon Miller, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Bobby Alexander, 22 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 23 Ebenezer Tshimanga.
Date: Friday, May 13
Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
Kick-off: 19.00 (17.00 GMT)
Referee: Morne Ferreira
Assistant referees: Dylen November, Local appointment
TMO: Ben Crouse
