Cape Town - Western Province captain Tiaan Liebenberg is wary of a Pumas team fighting for their existence in the top section of the Currie Cup.

WP take on the Pumas in Witbank on Friday, and Liebenberg feels the fact that the men from Witbank are second from bottom on the Currie Cup log, will make them a tough nut to crack.

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) recently announced that the Currie Cup Premier Division will be reduced from eight to six team's from next season onwards. This means the Pumas, currently in seventh position with five losses on the trot, would need to improve drastically if they are to stay afloat.

And for this reason, the burly WP hooker believes they will be extra motivated to get on the winning track.

"I think it will be motivation for any team if it knows it has a good chance of finishing in the top six by beating one of the bigger unions," Libenberg told Die Burger newspaper.

Province are nevertheless the heavy favourites to win the match after their 28-26 win over log-leaders, the Golden Lions at Newlands last week.

A win - with a bonus point - is thus essential for the Capetonians if they are to reach the semi-finals of what is expected to be a close run-in to the competition's finale.

"It meant an awful lot for us to beat the Lions. We came off two losses (against the Cheetahs and the Sharks), despite playing well in both those games," said Liebenberg.

Teams:

Pumas:
TBA

Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Steven Hunt, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Nizaan Carr, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg (captain) 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Skarra Ntubeni, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Quinton Roux, 19 Tertius Daniller, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache 22 Danie Poolman