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All eyes on WP's new pivot

Stephen Nell

Cape Town - With Peter Grant again saying goodbye to Western Province until next year, young flyhalf Gary van Aswegen's performance becomes vital to their Currie Cup cause this year.

Van Aswegen, 21, will make his first appearance since he injured his knee in the Stormers' away game against the Lions on 16 April.

In that game he had 10 excellent minutes on the field, which is why his performance on Saturday against Griquas attracts so much interest.

"We need a flyhalf that can take control," WP's backline coach Robbie Fleck said earlier in the week.

Van Aswegen was the top point's scorer in the ABSA under-20 competition last year, and made his Currie Cup debut in that same season - against the Pumas in Nelspruit.

Apart from his accurate kicking - he kicked 44 conversions and 37 penalties in the under-20 competition last year - he's also known as a quality ball-distributor.

Despite showing much promise in the Super Rugby competition, WP are not expecting miracles in his first game back.

"It's great to have Gary back, but he's had a big injury. We want to get him sharp again as soon as possible. Gary had great moments in Super Rugby and a whole Currie Cup season will prepare him well for 2012's (Super Rugby) tournament," said Fleck.

If he performs well in the Currie Cup, he could put pressure on Grant's No 10 Stormers jersey. Grant is well within his rights to divide his loyalties between Japan and the Cape, but as long as that is the case, he won't be part of the Stormers' pre-season preparations.

Van Aswegen will have a tough task to lift Grant out of the top spot as the region's flyhalf.

Grant succeeded with 52 out of 61 kicks at goal in Super Rugby, and his success rate of 85.2% was the highest of all the kickers who kicked at posts 10 or more times during the season.

Van Aswegen had only four shots at goal for the Stormers, but succeeded with all of them.

However, a flyhalf is only as good as his forwards allow him to be, and the Western Province pack will have to be on top of their game against an experienced Griquas pack.

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes 14 Danie Poolman 13 Johann Sadie 12 Tim Whitehead 11 JJ Engelbrecht 10 Gary van Aswegen 9 Louis Schreuder 8 Nick Koster 7 Siya Kolisi 6 Wimpie van der Walt 5 De Kock Steenkamp 4 Hilton Lobberts 3 Brok Harris 2 Deon Fourie (Captain) 1 Wicus Blaauw

Substitutes: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg 17 Frans Malherbe 18 Adriaan Fondse 19 Rohan Kitshoff 20 Nick Groom 21 Demetri Catrikilis 22 Marcel Brache


Griquas:
15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Richard Lawson, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Monty Dumond, 9 Shannon Rick, 8 Jonathan Mokue­na (k), 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Justin Downey, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Ryno Barnes­, 1 Steph Roberts.

Substitutes: 16 Matthew Dobson, 17 Jean Botha, 18 Frikkie Spies, 19 Jaco Nepgen, 20 Matt Rosslee, 21 Earl Rose, 22 Fabian Juries.
 
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