Steenkamp back in WP mix
De Kock Steenkamp, a member of the 2008 Varsity Cup-winning Stellenbosch team, has replaced injured Western Province lock Adriaan Fondse for Saturday’s Currie Cup clash against the Sharks in Durban.
Second row Steenkamp, who represented WP against the British & Irish Lions earlier this year, will warm the bench this weekend – joing fellow Maties, JD Moller, Pieter Louw and JJ Engelbrecht. The latter, of course, is – like Steenkamp – a former Varsity Cup star.
Western Province forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot would have had the option of calling upon another Varsity Cup product, UCT’s Martin Muller, but opted for Steenkamp in what should be a cracking away fixture.
Muller, who played Super 14 rugby for the Stormers this year, will instead turn out for the WP Under-20 team this weekend – a side jam-packed with Ikeys and Maties Varsity Cup youngsters.
Just last week, the WP Under-20s racked up a clinical 55-26 victory over the Lions U20s.
The Western Province team: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Morgan Newman, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Luke Watson (captain), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Anton van Zyl, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw,
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JD Moller, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Frikkie Welsh, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
