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Cape Town - Flank Stefan Willemse will make his first start for Western Province in their Currie Cup clash against the Sharks at Newlands on Saturday (17:10 kick-off0.
Willemse came off the bench in the 36-6 victory against the Eastern Province Kings in Port Elizabeth last week, and gets his first opportunity in the starting line-up at openside flank, with Kobus van Dyk shifting across to the blindside, and Jurie van Vuuren starting on the bench.
The only other changes come in the backline as Robert du Preez starts at flyhalf in place of Brandon Thomson and Johnny Kotze comes in at outside centre, with Huw Jones moving across to inside centre.
There are two new backline players on the replacements bench as well, with Dewaldt Duvenage back in the mix for the first time since returning from France, and utility back EW Viljoen called up from the Western Province Under-21 side.
The versatile Duvenage will cover both scrumhalf and flyhalf, having played in both positions for the Stormers in the past. As such, there is no spot on the bench for Thomson.
Western Province coach John Dobson said that the team is excited to play in front of their faithful fans at Newlands in what should be a hard-fought coastal derby.
“It is always an intense game when Western Province play the Sharks, so we would like to embrace the occasion and give it absolutely everything,” Dobson told the WP Rugby website.
“It was encouraging to get our first win of the season last week, but we know that we will have to raise our standards significantly on Saturday,” he said.
Teams:
Western Province
15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Stefan Willemse, 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 JP Smith, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Jurie van Vuuren, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 EW Viljoen
Sharks
15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 S'bura Sithole, 10 Inny Radebe, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Juan Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 John-Hubert Meyer, 18 Jean Droste, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Michael Claassens, 21 Heimar Williams, 22 Rhyno Smith
