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Cape Town - Jaque Fourie's foot injury is more serious than initially anticipated and is likely to force him out of Saturday's Absa Currie Cup semi-final at Newlands.
Western Province coach Allister Coetzee said on Tuesday an assessment showed that the injury will not heal in time for the Springbok centre to play against the Free State Cheetahs.
"It's (the injury) not looking good and it will be a big blow to lose the services of a Springbok, especially for such a crunch match," said Coetzee.
"We know how valuable he is but we'll have to soldier on with a changed backline.
"We'll probably bring Conrad Jantjes back at fullback and Jean de Villiers will go back to centre. Gio Aplon will move out from fullback to the wing." Earlier, Fourie's namesake, hooker Deon Fourie, was cleared to play after he was found not guilty of foul play in last Saturday's match against the Sharks.
Province had a rest day on Monday and will resume training on Tuesday in Bellville. The confidence levels will be high after Province outplayed the Sharks in all departments of the game, although the match lacked its usual intensity as the KZN visitors were well below par. Nevertheless, as it turned out, it was an ideal warm-up for Province ahead of the semi-final.
The match fitness levels of the returning Springboks such as scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, wing Bryan Habana, centre Jaque Fourie and flanker Schalk Burger would have benefited greatly from the outing after they had been inactive for a month.
Habana and Jaque Fourie made their Currie Cup debuts for Province on Saturday. This will be the second successive year that Province have reached the semis after failing to so do in 2007 and 2008. Last year Province hosted the Blue Bulls at Newlands and lost 21-19 after flyhalf Morne Steyn goaled seven match winning penalties.
The Free State Cheetahs have a far superior Currie Cup semi-finals record in recent years. Last season they defeated the Sharks away to reach the final and in 2008 they lost to the Bulls in Pretoria. In 2007 they defeated the Bulls and went on to win the title.
But the Cheetahs' biggest psychological boost ahead of this weekend's semi-final will be the memory of their 29-24 win over Province in a league match at Newlands six weeks ago.
The Cheetahs too had an ideal 'warm-up' fixture last Friday when they ran in 12 tries in their 78-7 romp against the Leopards, and significantly, came away injury-free. They will also enjoy the added advantage of resting for an additional day.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske pointed out out that the pressure this weekend will be on Province, largely because of their failure to win the Currie Cup since 2001. As a result Province will have to contend with the twin intimidation of pressure and the Cheetahs' challenge on Saturday.
One Province player who knows all about the failures in Currie Cup semifinals is captain Schalk Burger who has tasted defeat three times during his career.
"I have been in the losing team in three Currie Cup semi-finals," said Burger. "We came close last year but I still haven't made a final in a WP jersey. It is something I would like to achieve and something the team wants to achieve.
"We have a huge respect for the Cheetahs. They have an excellent record in recent Currie Cups, so we won't be taking anything for granted.
"They've always have a fantastic pack of forwards.
"It is great to have a home semifinal but the job's not done yet.
"It's not going to be easy but we'll do our best to give ourselves a shot at it (the final)."
