Jean starts for Western Province

Cape Town - Springbok captain Jean de Villiers will start Saturday's pre-season friendly for a Western Province XV side that will take on the Pumas at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Franschhoek.

Michael Willemse will captain.

De Villiers played his first game of rugby in eight months last weekend, coming off the bench for the Springboks against the World XV at Newlands and he is expected to get about 40 minutes of game time this Saturday.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s friendly, and discussing the team selection, new Western Province head coach John Dobson was realistic about his expectations.

"This game is very early in our Currie Cup preparations – we started on the field (training) only last Thursday and have tried to do a fair amount in that time," Dobson told the Western Province official website.

"We know we are undercooked, but it’s part of a deliberate plan in the build-up to our first game of the 2015 Currie Cup competition. We are also using this game as a chance to look at our depth – depth that we will need during the Currie Cup.

"We wanted to give our Super Rugby players as much rest as we can, but having said that, with one or two notable exceptions, it is a very young team – a team made up of players who will have the opportunity to put up their hands for greater things. I am excited to see a lot of these players in action.

"We know all too well how the Pumas beat our Vodacom team in the Vodacom Cup Final at DHL Newlands a few weeks ago.

"We know it’s going to be a very hard test, but it is exactly what we need.”

The DHL WP XV for Saturday (v Pumas, friendly) is as follows:

15. EW Viljoen
14. Kobus van Wyk
13. Huw Jones
12. Jean de Villiers
11. Tshotsho Mbovane
10. Kurt Coleman
9. Godlen Masimla
8. Rayn Smid
7. Josh Katzen
6. Taps Tsomondo
5. Jan de Klerk
4. WIlhelm van der Sluys
3. Wilco Louw
2. Michael Willemse (captain)
1. Ali Vermaak

Replacements (from):

16. Chad Solomon
17. Sti Sithole
18. Oli Kebble
19. Chris van Zyl
20. Justin Benn
21. Sikhumbuzo Notshe
22. Jano Vermaak
23. Ernst Stapelberg
24. Brandon Thomson
25. Kyle Lombard
26. Jarryd Sage