Cape Town — An understrength Western Province will be looking to put up another big fight against a strong Free State Cheetahs side when the two teams clash in the second round of the Currie Cup on Saturday.
In their last meeting, in Cape Town, the WP youngsters took the fight to the experienced Free State and almost toppled the Currie Cup log leaders.
But they can expect a stronger onslaught from the Bloemfontein side in front of their home fans in the Toyota Stadium (kickoff 13:00).
John Dobson, Stormers coach, made seven changes to the side that toppled a full-strength Blue Bulls at the DHL Stadium last week Saturday.
And although some key personnel will be missing, Dobson will be hopeful that his young guns will stay in the fight to keep their hopes in the domestic competition alive.
"This is another tough away trip, but we have seen some good progress this season from some of our combinations and we want to take the next step forward on Saturday," Dobson said.
Springbok Juan de Jongh returns at outside centre and his combination with young inside centre Damian Markus will be vital. Flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis retains the captaincy, although De Jongh is back from injury.
Du Plessis led the team by example against the Bulls with the coaches backing his captaincy.
Flanker Junior Pokomela is the only experienced head among the forwards with the rest all in their first or second season of senior rugby.
"We have several experienced heads who understand what it takes to win a Currie Cup game in Bloemfontein, with some really exciting young talent around them, so we are looking forward to seeing what they can do."
Wing Lloyd Koster will make his debut.
The Cheetahs on the other hand picked a very experienced pack of forwards who the WP guys will have to contain.
An exciting back-three in Cohen Jasper, Daniel Kasende, and Munier Hartzenberg can also strike from all over the field.
They will look for any bit of space to exploit but the Province tacklers did well to shut down guys like Kurt-Lee Arendse and Stedman Gans of the Bulls.
The halfback combination of former Springbok Ruan Pienaar and Siya Masuku will also be a dangerous one. Masuku turned the tide for his team the last time they faced WP.
Cheetahs: 15. Cohen Jasper, 14. Dan Kasende, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Reinhardt Fortuin, 11. Munier Hartzenberg, 10. Siya Masuku, 9. Ruan Pienaar, 8. George Cronje, 7. Sibabalo Qoma, 6. Gideon van der Merwe, 5. Victor Sekekete (captain), 4. Rynier Bernardo, 3. Hencus van Wyk, 2. Marko Janse van Rensburg.
Bench: 16. Louis van der Westhuizen, 17. Nqobisizwe Mxoli, 18. Laurence Victor, 19. Mzwanele Zito, 20. Friedle Oliver, 21. Daniel Maartens, 22. Rewan Kruger, 23. David Brits.
Western Province: 15. Clayton Blommetjies, 14. Lloyd Koster, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Damian Markus, 11. Luke Burger, 10. Jean-Luc du Plessis (captain), 9. Godlen Masimla, 8. Keke Morabe, 7. Jarrod Taylor, 6. Junior Pokomela, 5. Connor Evans, 4. Dylan de Leeuw, 3. Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2. Andre-Hugo Venter, 1. Kwenzo Blose.
Bench: 16. Chad Solomon, 17. Leon Lyons, 18. Corne Weilbach, 19. Adre Smith, 20. Louw Nel, 21. Thomas Bursey, 22. Jurie Matthee, 23. Duncan Saal.
IOL Sport