The cavalry's arrived! Western Province will be hoping to get out of the trenches and on the path to victory with the return of a powerful arsenal of Springboks. Coach Allister Coetzee has named seven returning Boks in his match 22 to face the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15h00.
Besides the seven Boks returning from Tri-Nations duty, Coetzee has also named at least five other players who ran out in the green and gold this year. That means Province could have as many as 12 Boks on the field to torment the Cheetahs with. The rest of the team is made up of seasoned Super 14 campaigners, former Boks and two very promising teenagers.
Jean de Villiers strips Gcobani Bobo of the captaincy and forces him to outside centre. Conrad Jantjes will be hoping to keep Province on the front foot when he returns at fullback ahead of Percy Montgomery, who hasn't even been included in the match 22 because of a stomach bug. He'll be flanked by wings, Thonderai Chavanga and Sereli Naqelevuki. Ricky Januarie starts ahead of Bolla Conradie, which should be great news for Peter Grant, who returns at flyhalf after an injury. Joe Pietersen and Wylie Human are the reserve backs.The Stormers loose trio is completed with Luke Watson at number eight, Schalk Burger at six and Francois Louw at seven. The gigantic Andries Bekker returns to the Streeptruie, while Ross Skeate, who was captain at the start of the season, but is now planning a move to Toulon, drops out of the match 22 completely. He's ! apparently been struggling with a shoulder injury for weeks no! w, but h as been battling on for the sake of the team. Adriaan Fondse keeps his place and AJ Venter is on the bench as back-up.
Brian Mujati will anchor the scrum at tight-head next to Schalk Brits and Wicus Blaauw. As usual the exciting Deon Fourie should come on at hooker in the second half. Teenage prop, JC Kritzinger is on the bench after making his debut against the Blue Bulls last week and young loose forward Nick Koster completes the team.
I have a feeling this side will have just too much firepower for the Cheetahs and will score the tries needed to make the semi-finals, but I'm quickly reminded that rugby is not played on paper...
Team list:
15. Conrad Jantjes
14. Tonderai Chavhanga
13. Gcobani Bobo
12. Jean De Villiers (C)
11. Sireli Naqelevuki
10. Peter Grant
9. Ricky Januarie
8. Luke Watson
7. Francois Louw
6. Schal! k Burger
5. Andries Bekker
4. Adriaan Fondse
3. Brian Mujati
2. Schalk Brits
1. Wicus Blaauw
Reserves:
16. Deon Fourie
17. JC Kritzinger
18. AJ Venter
19. Nick Koster
20. Bolla Conradie
21. Joe Pietersen
22. Wylie Human
