Publications
Partners
Stephen Nell
Cape Town – Western Province’s joy about reaching their second home Currie Cup semi-final in as many seasons has been dampened with the news that Jaque Fourie and Deon Fourie may have to sit out Saturday’s game against Free State.
Jaque picked up a foot injury in Saturday’s 33-21 win over the Sharks, while his namesake will have to appear in a judicial hearing this week for alleged foul play.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Sunday said in a statement that Fourie had been cited after his “right hand allegedly made contact with the face area of Sharks hooker Bismarck du Plessis”.
SARU said that the date and time of the hearing would be confirmed on Monday.
This could lead to a potential hooker crisis for WP as Tiaan Liebenberg is already out for the season with an injury. Should Fourie be suspended, veteran Springbok Hanyani Shimange will have to wear the No 2 jersey.
Callie Visagie has featured as a substitute hooker this year and may well be on the bench. Province’s other option is to call up under-21 hooker Sidney Tobias.
There is still the hope that Fourie may be found not guilty, but the citing places a massive dampener on what was a superb weekend for WP.
Jaque will be a big loss, but the injury may save coach Allister Coetzee a selection headache as he contemplates picking a backline from a host of talented stars.
“Jaque has a foot injury. We don’t know how serious it is. He will have to go for x-rays,” said Coetzee.
The WP coach last week had to confront the problem of how to fit Jaque, Juan de Jongh and Jean de Villiers into the same backline. The solution was ultimately to ask De Villiers to play wing.
De Villiers played very well, but may wear the No 12 jersey again on Saturday, which will probably mean that De Jongh moves back to outside centre.
In that case Gio Aplon is likely to be on the right wing, with Conrad Jantjes returning in the starting line-up as fullback.
“I said last week that the number on Jean’s back does not matter. He stays effective as a runner, decision-maker and leader,” said Coetzee.
“The selection was only for the game against the Sharks. We will now look at what the Cheetahs are likely to bring to the semi-final.”
Tactical kicking is usually a big part of Free State’s approach and it may well benefit WP to have Jantjes back in the side.
Coetzee also has a tough call to make after Ricky Januarie performed well at scrumhalf. Dewaldt Duvenage played well prior to Januarie’s inclusion and is probably a better kicking option.
“I’m delighted with Ricky’s performance and that he got a standing ovation,” said Coetzee.
The coach was generally happy with the impact that his contracted Springboks made on their return.
“They brought a lot of experience to the side and made good decisions. The communication on defence was also very good. It’s exactly what we needed at this stage of the competition,” said Coetzee.
Jaque and fellow superstar Bryan Habana made their WP debuts on Saturday.
“Schalk Burger handed over ties to them when we were in a huddle afterwards. It was a nice gesture. They are now fully-fledged WP boys,” said Coetzee.
Cape Town – Western Province’s joy about reaching their second home Currie Cup semi-final in as many seasons has been dampened with the news that Jaque Fourie and Deon Fourie may have to sit out Saturday’s game against Free State.
Jaque picked up a foot injury in Saturday’s 33-21 win over the Sharks, while his namesake will have to appear in a judicial hearing this week for alleged foul play.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Sunday said in a statement that Fourie had been cited after his “right hand allegedly made contact with the face area of Sharks hooker Bismarck du Plessis”.
SARU said that the date and time of the hearing would be confirmed on Monday.
This could lead to a potential hooker crisis for WP as Tiaan Liebenberg is already out for the season with an injury. Should Fourie be suspended, veteran Springbok Hanyani Shimange will have to wear the No 2 jersey.
Callie Visagie has featured as a substitute hooker this year and may well be on the bench. Province’s other option is to call up under-21 hooker Sidney Tobias.
There is still the hope that Fourie may be found not guilty, but the citing places a massive dampener on what was a superb weekend for WP.
Jaque will be a big loss, but the injury may save coach Allister Coetzee a selection headache as he contemplates picking a backline from a host of talented stars.
“Jaque has a foot injury. We don’t know how serious it is. He will have to go for x-rays,” said Coetzee.
The WP coach last week had to confront the problem of how to fit Jaque, Juan de Jongh and Jean de Villiers into the same backline. The solution was ultimately to ask De Villiers to play wing.
De Villiers played very well, but may wear the No 12 jersey again on Saturday, which will probably mean that De Jongh moves back to outside centre.
In that case Gio Aplon is likely to be on the right wing, with Conrad Jantjes returning in the starting line-up as fullback.
“I said last week that the number on Jean’s back does not matter. He stays effective as a runner, decision-maker and leader,” said Coetzee.
“The selection was only for the game against the Sharks. We will now look at what the Cheetahs are likely to bring to the semi-final.”
Tactical kicking is usually a big part of Free State’s approach and it may well benefit WP to have Jantjes back in the side.
Coetzee also has a tough call to make after Ricky Januarie performed well at scrumhalf. Dewaldt Duvenage played well prior to Januarie’s inclusion and is probably a better kicking option.
“I’m delighted with Ricky’s performance and that he got a standing ovation,” said Coetzee.
The coach was generally happy with the impact that his contracted Springboks made on their return.
“They brought a lot of experience to the side and made good decisions. The communication on defence was also very good. It’s exactly what we needed at this stage of the competition,” said Coetzee.
Jaque and fellow superstar Bryan Habana made their WP debuts on Saturday.
“Schalk Burger handed over ties to them when we were in a huddle afterwards. It was a nice gesture. They are now fully-fledged WP boys,” said Coetzee.
