Cape Town - Western Province coach John Dobson has named his team for Sunday’s Currie Cup derby against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria (14:30 kick-off).
Dobson has made a number of changes from the team that beat Griquas 55-27 at Newlands last weekend.
Jano Vermaak is back at scrumhalf and links up with flyhalf Robert du Preez, with Damian Willemse shifting to fullback in place of Dillyn Leyds who is with the Springboks.
Centres Huw Jones and EW Viljoen also return from injury to start in midfield. Both players sat out last week with minor injury niggles, with Ruhan Nel providing cover on the bench.
The only changes to the forward pack come in the front row as Ramone Samuels and Frans van Wyk start, with Ali Vermaak, Dean Muir and Wilco Louw among the replacements.
Dobson said that there will be little margin for error at Loftus Versfeld.
"We know that it will be a major challenge to go up there, but the team have embraced it and we are looking forward to testing ourselves,” Dobson said.
"Our focus has been on our game and ensuring that we execute our plans accurately in what should be a tough match.”
Teams:
Blue Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Burger Odendaal (captain), 12 JT Jackson, 11 Johnny Kotze, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Nic de Jager, 7 Tim Agaba, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Aston Fortuin, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Substitutes: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 18 Jano Venter, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Ulrich Beyers
Western Province
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Substitutes: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Ruhan Nel