Cape Town - Olympic Sevens Bronze medallists Cheslin Kolbe and Werner Kok will both start for Western Province in their Currie Cup clash against the Eastern Province Kings in Port Elizabeth on Saturday (16:00 kick-off).
READ: WP confirm Currie Cup reinforcements
Kolbe will make his first start of the Currie Cup Premier Division after coming off the bench last week, whilst Kok will make his Western Province debut on the right wing.
The only other change to the backline sees Dan du Plessis come back from a shoulder injury to reclaim his place at inside centre, with Huw Jones shifting to outside centre.
In the forward pack, Jurie van Vuuren gets a chance to start at flank, whilst JD Schickerling returns from illness at lock and JC Janse van Rensburg makes his first start of the season at loosehead prop.
There are changes on the bench as well, with Neil Rautenbach back in Western Province colours as front row cover, along with Alistair Vermaak and a fit-again Oli Kebble. There will also be a Western Province debut for loose forward Stefan Willemse, should he be called on.
Western Province coach John Dobson said that his team will need a clinical performance if they are to come away with a crucial win in Port Elizabeth.
“We have challenged the players to raise their effort levels this weekend against what is a tough Eastern Province Kings side,” Dobson told the WP Rugby website.
“We have not been up to standard thus far this season, and that has to change, starting at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.”
Dobson is looking forward to seeing what the new faces in the team have to offer.
“It is exciting to see the energy that the new players and those returning from injury have brought on the training pitch, and hopefully that translates into our performance this weekend,” he added.
Teams:
EP Kings
15 Johann Tromp, 14 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 13 JC Greyling, 12 Burton Klaasen, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Kobus Marais, 9 Ricky Schroeder (captain), 8 Christiaan De Bruin, 7 Etienne Oosthuizen, 6 Vince Jobo, 5 Sebastian Ferreira, 4 Tazz Fuzani, 3 Vukile Sofisa, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Justin Forwood
Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Barend Potgieter, 18 Dylon Pieterse, 19 Luke vd Smit, 20 Brandon Brown, 21 Lungelo Goza, 22 Ganfried May
Western Province
15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Kobus van Dyk, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Substitutes: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Stefan Willemse, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Robert du Preez