Western Province coach has named a largely-unchanged 22 for Saturday’s crunch match against the Sharks in Durban. Lock Adriaan Fondse sustained a season-ending knee injury in last week’s match against the Lions and is replaced by Chris Jack in the starting fifteen.
Other players in doubt during the week, flyhalf Peter Grant and loosehead prop Wicus Blaauw, have both been cleared to play, although it is understood that Grant has a broken bone in his foot and is currently trying to “play through the pain”. His designated back-up at flyhalf, Conrad Hoffman, has failed to recover from a hamstring injury, meaning that fullback Joe Pietersen will move to flyhalf should one of the Sharks accidentally stand on Grant’s foot in the first half…
Hilton Lobberts, who would probably have come into the squad this week for Fondse, is apparently suffering from flu, meaning that the number 18 shirt goes to untested rookie De Kock Steenkamp.
15. Joe Pietersen
14. Tonderai Chavhanga
13. Juan De Jongh
12. Morgan Newman
11. Gio Aplon
10. Peter Grant
9. Dewaldt Duvenage
8. Luke Watson (C)
7. Duane Vermeulen
6. Francois Louw
5. Anton Van Zyl
4. Chris Jack
3. Brok Harris
2. Tiaan Liebenberg
1. Wicus Blaauw
Reserves:
16. Deon Fourie
17. JD Moller
18. De Kock Steenkamp
19. Pieter Louw
20. Bolla Conradie
21. Frikkie Welsh
22. JJ Engelbrecht

Go WP!!!
Take it to these overrated pretty boys!!! 😈
this is interesting… from Sport24…
Western Province have named Peter Grant at flyhalf for Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup rugby match against the Sharks in Durban, but he was nowhere to be seen at training in Bellville, on Wednesday morning.
Over the past fortnight it has been touch and go for Grant, who is battling with back and foot injuries. Fullback Joe Pietersen ran the lines from the flyhalf berth at training instead.
Province coach Alistair Coetzee, said after the session Grant was being rested as a precautionary measure.
@robdylan (Comment 2) : dont care if its grant or joe, sharkies are good enough to win the game!!
Which foot…..we need to know 😉
@willa (Comment 3) : You are sooooo right!! GO SHARKS!!
@willa (Comment 3) : spot on, lad!
Doesn’t say much for their physio team: ‘Don’t worry about that broken bone in your foot, Pete. You can run off the pain..”
Sharkies should take this..
Just use that red tape stuff. Or can’t we get it in the Cape? Probably never heard of it here 😐
@CapeShark (Comment 7) : just inhale some of this… 🙂
Sharks by double-figures…!!!
@blackshark (Comment 11) : yeah, ok. I’ll buy that.
Now, how to convince my wife to let me watch this game AND the Bok one…
@wpw (Comment 1) :
What? Are they playing against their own B side?
@robdylan (Comment 2) :
Very, When i saw that bit about Grant not even being at practise I had flashbacks to the days when we still played testrugby and Rassie screwed us over with his silly selection games. 😕
Bolla on the bench?????????? WP have lifted the barrel and are looking underneath it now.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 15) : Maybe he is on the bench as flyhalf cover 🙄
@KSA Shark © (Comment 15) : Morning!
@KSA Shark © (Comment 15) : bwaaaaa 🙂
easy win for the guppies, we almost rolled them at Newlands and we are having one of our worst years in a LONG time
I say use the high kicks to force them back. When guys like Chavanga and Aplon have to start falling back to help cover things are gonna go pear shaped for Province, neither one of them have much of a kicking game.
Just don`t kick on them and forget to chase cause they can cause damage on the counter attack.
Simple springbok rugby really. Kick, pressure, force the mistake and pounce!
@walter van Lions World (Comment 19) :
You almost rolled us??? 😯
Thats cos you were defending the whole game (your defence was pretty good though)
I’m sorry to say Wlater but you guys were never in the game!!!
@Original Pierre (Comment 20) : Aplon has a very decent boot.Chavs not so much
@wpw (Comment 21) : looks at the scoreboard